Ctenochelys

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Ctenochelys
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 89–70 Ma
Ctenochelys stenoporus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Chelonioidea
Family: Ctenochelyidae
Genus: Ctenochelys
Zangerl, 1953
Type species
C. stenoporus
Species
  • C. stenoporus
  • C. acris

Ctenochelys (meaning "comb tortoise") is an extinct genus of marine turtle (Cryptodira, Pancheloniidae), which existed during the Cretaceous period, and lived in the shallow waters of the Western Interior Seaway.[1] Its fossils have been found in the Ripley Formation and Mooreville Chalk of central Alabama, United States.[2] It was first named by C. H. Sternberg in 1904,[3] and contains two species, C. stenoporus[4] and C. acris.[5]

Species[edit]

Ctenochelys stenoporus skeletons

Ctenochelys stenoporus is the type species. It was originally thought to be a species of Toxochelys; T. bauri, until Sternberg declared it a separate genus.[3] The two genera are similar in carapaces.[1]

Ctenochelys acris was first named by Zangerl in 1953 and is now thought to be one of the earliest ancestors of modern cheloniids.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Kear BP, Lee MS (March 2006). "A primitive protostegid from Australia and early sea turtle evolution". Biol. Lett. 2 (1): 116–9. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0406. PMC 1617175. PMID 17148342.
  2. ^ "Gary Kobylski, New Chair of MO–15 Board and State Conservationist in Alabama - Section "Things other than Dirt!"" (PDF). Charles Love, The Coastal Plainer. Fall 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-20. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  3. ^ a b "Marine Turtles". Mike Everhart. 2004. Archived from the original on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  4. ^ Matzke AT (2007). "An almost complete juvenile specimen of the Cheloniid turtle Ctenochelys Stenoporus (Hay, 1905) From the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara formation of Kansas, USA". Palaeontology. 50 (3): 669–91. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00650.x.
  5. ^ Zangerl R (1953). "The vertebrate fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama. Part IV. The turtles of the family Toxochelyidae". Fieldiana Geology Memoirs: 137–277.
  6. ^ Gentry AD (2016). "New material of the Late Cretaceous marine turtle Ctenochelys acris Zangerl, 1953 and a phylogenetic reassessment of the 'toxochelyid'-grade taxa". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 15 (8): 675–696. doi:10.1080/14772019.2016.1217087. S2CID 88758027.

External links[edit]