Pleurosternidae is an extinct family of freshwater turtles belonging to Paracryptodira.[1] They are definitively known from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Western Europe and North America.[2]

Pleurosternids
Temporal range: Kimmeridgian–Albian
Pleurosternon skull
Pleurosternon shell
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Pantestudines
Clade: Testudinata
Clade: Paracryptodira
Superfamily: Baenoidea
Family: Pleurosternidae
Cope, 1868

Genera edit

Valid taxa edit

Uluops from the Late Jurassic of North America may also belong to Pleurosternidae.[2]

Invalid taxa edit

  • Desmemys[3] Bückeberg Formation, Germany, Berriasian (nomen dubium)

Ecology edit

The high morphological diversity of skulls of the group suggests high ecological plasticity. Glyptops and Pleurosternon exhibit adaptions likely for suction feeding, while Dorsteochelys was likely a dietary generalist.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ "Pleurosternidae". Fossilworks. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Joyce, Walter G.; Anquetin, Jérémy (October 2019). "A Review of the Fossil Record of Nonbaenid Turtles of the Clade Paracryptodira". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 60 (2): 129–155. doi:10.3374/014.060.0204. ISSN 0079-032X.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Pleurosternidae". Fossilworks. Retrieved October 18, 2019.