Puentemys is an extinct genus of bothremydid turtle from the Paleocene-age Cerrejón Formation in Colombia. It is the largest known bothremydid, with a shell length of up to 1.51 m (5.0 ft). Puentemys is the only Paleocene bothremydid known from South America, and is most closely related to the genus Foxemys from the Late Cretaceous of Europe, showing that Bothremydini, the tribe of bothremydids to which Puentemys belonged, had a nearly worldwide distribution across the K-T boundary. The ancestors of Puentemys may have reached South America by dispersing across Paleocene coastlines or by riding currents across the Atlantic Ocean.[1]

Puentemys
Temporal range: Mid Paleocene (Itaboraian-Peligran)
~60–58 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Bothremydidae
Subtribe: Foxemydina
Genus: Puentemys
Cadena et al., 2012
Type species
Puentemys mushaisaensis
Cadena et al., 2012

References

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  1. ^ Cadena, E. A.; Bloch, J. I.; Jaramillo, C. A. (2012). "New Bothremydid Turtle (Testudines, Pleurodira) from the Paleocene of Northeastern Colombia". Journal of Paleontology. 86 (4): 688. Bibcode:2012JPal...86..688C. doi:10.1666/11-128R1.1. S2CID 85602476.