Side-necked turtle lower jaws (Podocnemididae, Bothremydidae) from the late Cretaceous Maevarano Formation of Madagascar. American Museum novitates ; no. 3397
Supplemental Materials
Date
2003
item.page.datecreated
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History
DOI
DOI
Abstract
Two lower jaws from the upper part (early Maastrichtian) of the late Cretaceous Maevarano Formation in the Mahajanga Basin, northwestern Madagascar, are identified as belonging to side-necked turtles (Pleurodira). A nearly complete lower jaw is identified as cf. Erymnochelys because of its close resemblance to the living Malagasy Erymnochelys madagascariensis. Both uniquely possess the combination of a posteriorly directed processus retroarticularis and a nearly identical triturating surface that is narrow anteriorly with a horizontal labial ridge and a dorsally rising lingual ridge. A second specimen, consisting of an incomplete symphyseal region, is questionably identified as Bothremydidae on the basis of a thick wedge-shaped symphysis with partial or complete pits on the rami. The cf. Erymnochelys specimen is the oldest record of Erymnochelys or a taxon very similar to it, and it indicates the persistence of a Mesozoic element in the extant Malagasy turtle fauna. The possible bothremydid jaw suggests a more cosmopolitan element now extinct.
Description
13 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 12-13).
Includes bibliographical references (p. 12-13).
item.page.type
text