A revision of xinjiangchelyid turtles from the Late Jurassic of Sichuan Basin, China

Larachelus morla, gen. et sp. nov., a new member of the little-known European Early Cretaceous record of stem cryptodiran turtles

“…The monophyly of Xinjiangchelyidae (Anquetin 2012;Tong et al 2012) is supported, and the presence of Xinjiangchelyidae outside Asia is confirmed here. The European taxa Brodiechelys brodiei, B. royoi, and Larachelus morla are attributed to this clade.…”

“…Therefore, Xinjiangchelyidae in the traditional sense and Bashuchelyidae can therefore not be recognized as two non-overlapping monophyletic clades in that analysis. The global phylogenetic analysis performed by Anquetin (2012), also based on the matrix of Joyce (2007), generated a poorly supported clade identified as Xinjiangchelyidae, comprising Siamochelys peninsularis, Xinjiangchelys qiguensis Matzke, Maisch, Sun, Pfretzschner, and Stöhr, 2004, X. tianshanensis, X. latimarginalis, and Annemys levensis Sukhanov and Narmandakh, 2006 (taxon reassigned to Xinjiangchelys levensis by Tong et al 2012). In order to better understand the relationships among the members of Bashuchelyidae and Xinjiangchelyidae, Tong et al (2012) proposed a new data matrix with only 24 characters, all of them referring to the shell, and with Kayentachelys aprix as outgroup.…”

“…The global phylogenetic analysis performed by Anquetin (2012), also based on the matrix of Joyce (2007), generated a poorly supported clade identified as Xinjiangchelyidae, comprising Siamochelys peninsularis, Xinjiangchelys qiguensis Matzke, Maisch, Sun, Pfretzschner, and Stöhr, 2004, X. tianshanensis, X. latimarginalis, and Annemys levensis Sukhanov and Narmandakh, 2006 (taxon reassigned to Xinjiangchelys levensis by Tong et al 2012). In order to better understand the relationships among the members of Bashuchelyidae and Xinjiangchelyidae, Tong et al (2012) proposed a new data matrix with only 24 characters, all of them referring to the shell, and with Kayentachelys aprix as outgroup. They found a monophyletic Bashuchelyidae, comprising only the species Bashuchelys youngi Tong, Danilov, Ye, Ouyang, and Peng 2011 and Bashuchelys zigongensis (Ye, 1982), and this was the sister group of the node grouping Chuannanchelys dashanpuensis and Xinjiangchelyidae.…”

“…For the first, we used the modified version of the data matrix of Sterli and de la Fuente (2011) proposed by Pérez-García and Murelaga (2012b), in which all representatives of Pan-Pleurodira are excluded and several Asian and European eucryptodires are included (Chengyuchelys baenoides Young andChow, 1953, Tholemys passmorei Andrews, 1921, Plesiochelys planiceps [Owen, 1842], Brodiechelys brodiei, Hylaeochelys belli [Mantell, 1844], Chitracephalus dumonii Dollo, 1885, and the Spanish Larachelus morla Pérez-García and Murelaga, 2012b; see Appendix 1). Moreover, another two taxa currently proposed as members of Xinjiangchelyidae (sensu Tong et al 2012), are also included (using the character encoding proposed by Tong et al 2011): Protoxinjiangchelys salis Peng, 2011 andXinjiangchelys tianshanensis Nessov, 1995. The modifications in the processing of certain characters in Pleurosternon bullockii (Owen, 1842), Dinochelys whitei Gaffney, 1979, and Glyptops plicatulus Marsh, 1890 proposed by Pérez-García and Ortega (2011), and in Peltochelys duchastelii Dollo, 1885 proposed by Pérez-García (2011) have been included.…”

Elementos de la Armadura Dérmica del Dinosaurio AnquilosaurioPolacanthusOwen, 1865, en el Cretácico Inferior de Morella (Castellón, España)

“…For the first, we used the modified version of the data matrix of Sterli and de la Fuente (2011) proposed by Pérez-García and Murelaga (2012b), in which all representatives of Pan-Pleurodira are excluded and several Asian and European eucryptodires are included (Chengyuchelys baenoides Young andChow, 1953, Tholemys passmorei Andrews, 1921, Plesiochelys planiceps [Owen, 1842], Brodiechelys brodiei, Hylaeochelys belli [Mantell, 1844], Chitracephalus dumonii Dollo, 1885, and the Spanish Larachelus morla Pérez-García and Murelaga, 2012b; see Appendix 1). Moreover, another two taxa currently proposed as members of Xinjiangchelyidae (sensu Tong et al 2012), are also included (using the character encoding proposed by Tong et al 2011): Protoxinjiangchelys salis Peng, 2011 andXinjiangchelys tianshanensis Nessov, 1995. The modifications in the processing of certain characters in Pleurosternon bullockii (Owen, 1842), Dinochelys whitei Gaffney, 1979, and Glyptops plicatulus Marsh, 1890 proposed by Pérez-García and Ortega (2011), and in Peltochelys duchastelii Dollo, 1885 proposed by Pérez-García (2011) have been included.…”