Rhinochelys amaberti Moret (1935), a protostegid turtle from the Early Cretaceous of France.

ABSTRACT: Modern marine turtles (chelonioids) are the remnants of an ancient radiation that roots in the Cretaceous. The oldest members of that radiation are first recorded from the Early Cretaceous and a series of species are known from the Albian-Cenomanian interval, many of which have been allocated to the widespread but poorly defined genus Rhinochelys, possibly concealing the diversity and the evolution of early marine turtles. In order to better understand the radiation of chelonioids, we redescribe the holotype and assess the taxonomy of Rhinochelys amaberti Moret (1935) (UJF-ID.11167) from the Late Albian (Stoliczkaia dispar Zone) of the Vallon de la Fauge (Isère, France). We also make preliminary assessments of the phylogenetic relationships of Chelonioidea using two updated datasets that w

SUBMITTER: Scavezzoni I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5898427 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature