Prochelidella is an extinct genus of Early to Late Cretaceous chelid turtles from the Bajo Barreal, Candeleros, Cerro Barcino and Portezuelo Formations of the Cañadón Asfalto, Golfo San Jorge and Neuquén Basins in Patagonia, Argentina. It includes the following species:[2]
- P. argentinae Lapparent de Broin & de la Fuente 2001[1]
- P. buitreraensis Maniel et al., 2020[3]
- P. cerrobarcinae De la Fuente et al. 2011
- P. palomoi Maniel, de la Fuente & Filippi, 2022
- P. portezuelae De la Fuente 2003[4]
| Prochelidella | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Pleurodira |
| Family: | Chelidae |
| Subfamily: | Chelinae |
| Genus: | †Prochelidella Lapparent de Broin & de la Fuent 2001[1] |
| Species | |
| |
Prochelidella buitreraensis
editProchelidella buitreraensis is known from the Huincul Formation of Argentina.[3] Its specific epithet references the paleontological site La Buitrera, where its fossils were discovered.[5]
The remains are notable for their exceptional state of preservation, which includes the presence of the skull. Besides, the remains of cervical vertebrae, the shell and the appendicular skeleton have also been found. The remains were found in Cañadón de las Tortugas, at La Buitrera, Río Negro Province, Argentine Patagonia, by scientists from CONICET. The estimated age of the finding, from the Cenomanian age, was calculated with radiometric dating carried out on zircons on a volcanic tuff. The remains of Prochelydella buitreraensis are hosted at Carlos Ameghino Provincial Museum in the city of Cipolletti, Río Negro Province, Argentina.[3] Its discovery appears to show that turtles and tortoises at some point in their early history were incapable of hiding their heads into their shells.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b F. d.e. Lapparent de Broin and M. S. de la Fuente. 2001. Oldest world Chelidae (Chelonii, Pleurodira), from the Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des planètes 333:463-470
- ^ "Prochelidella". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
- ^ a b c Maniel, Ignacio J.; de la Fuente, Marcelo S.; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Pérez Mayoral, Joaquin; Sanchez, Maria L.; Veiga, Gonzalo D.; Smales, Ian (2020-02-24). "Cranial and postcranial remains of a new species of Prochelidella (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from 'La Buitrera' (Cenomanian of Patagonia, Argentina), with comments on the monophyly of this extinct chelid genus from southern Gondwana". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (12): 1033–1055. Bibcode:2020JSPal..18.1033M. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1721579. S2CID 214500365. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
- ^ de la Fuente. 2003. Two new Pleurodiran turtles from the Portezuelo Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of northern Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Paleontology: Vol. 77, No. 3, pp. 559–575.
- ^ Fernández, Leonardo (2020-06-04). "Hallan restos fósiles de una nueva especie de tortuga de agua dulce". CONICET. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
- ^ Garcia, Victor (2020-08-03). "Investigadores argentinos descubren que las tortugas antes no podían esconder su cabeza dentro del caparazón". Diario El Zonda (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-09-03.