Eocene North American Testudinidae and Geoemydidae (Reptilia, Testudines): A Re-Evaluation of Their Alpha Taxonomy, Ecology, and Origin

Lichtig, Asher Jacob; Jasinski, Steven E.; Lucas, Spencer G.

doi:10.3390/iecg2019-06195

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The common co‐occurrence of B. pusilla with testudinid material in our localities is also intriguing (Table 2). Basal testudinids (such as the Uintan pan‐testudinid Hadrianus ) have often been assumed to share a similar ecology to extant testudinids (Lichtig et al, 2019; Vlachos, 2018). However, this may not be the case, as the most basal extant testudinid Manouria emys Schlegel & Müller, 1845 has a peculiar feeding behavior that might reflect a primitive mode shared with aquatic ancestors (Natchev et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geometric morphometrics and anatomical network analyses reveal ecospace partitioning among geoemydid turtles from the Uinta Formation, Utah

Adrian

Smith

Hutchison

et al. 2021

The Anatomical Record

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We present new fossil records of the geoemydid turtle Bridgeremys pusilla from the Uinta Formation of Utah. Turtles are abundant throughout the unit, and known taxa are similar to those from the older strata in the Upper Green River Basin in Wyoming from the Bridger and Washakie Formations. B. pusilla is known from Bridgerian deposits but was not previously known from after the Turtle Bluff Member of the Bridger Formation. The taxon was coveal with two species of the geoemydid Echmatemys (E. callopyge and E. wyomingensis), a common genus of extinct pond turtles known primarily from lacustrine and fluvial deposits in western North America, including the Uinta Basin. In addition to previously documented morphological differences, our geometric morphometric analyses revealed significant differences in epiplastral morphology between B. pusilla and the two coeval Echmatemys species. Bridgeremys pusilla shared several morphological characters with Testudinidae. However, our anatomical network analysis suggests that the carapace of B. pusilla distributed stress forces in a manner more similar to emydids (basal and derived) than to derived testudinoids (Testudinidae and Emydidae), including Echmatemys species. This finding changes our understanding of the ecology of the species and sheds light onto how geoemydid turtles of the Uinta Formation may have partitioned the available ecospace. These new Uintan records extend the geographic range of B. pusilla into the Uinta Basin and stratigraphically through the top of the Uinta Formation, extending the temporal range of the taxon by more than 4 million years through the Uintan North American Land Mammal Age to the base of the Duchesne River Formation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geometric morphometrics and anatomical network analyses reveal ecospace partitioning among geoemydid turtles from the Uinta Formation, Utah

Adrian

Smith

Hutchison

et al. 2021

The Anatomical Record

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“…Therefore, Neotropical faunal assemblages reflect several distinct biogeographical histories. While some clades likely originated from a mid‐Cretaceous vicariant event between South America and Africa (e.g., boid snakes: Noonan & Chippindale, 2006; Iguanian and Scleroglossan lizards: Albino & Brizuela, 2014), others later dispersed overwater from Africa (e.g., Epictine threadsnakes: Adalsteinsson et al., 2009; Platyrrhine monkeys and Caviomorph rodents: Defler, 2019; South American Amphisbaenidae: Graboski et al., 2022) or from Asia, via North America (viperid snakes: Wüster et al., 2008; turtles: Lichtig et al., 2019). Furthermore, the more recent Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) promoted dispersal and faunal admixture between Central and South American fauna—mainly mammals and birds (Bacon et al., 2015; Defler, 2019; South American Amphisbaenidae: Graboski et al., 2022)—despite some evidence of pre‐GABI dispersal (Agnolin et al., 2019; Heinicke et al., 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

There and back again: when and how the world's richest snake family (Dipsadidae) dispersed and speciated across the Neotropical region

Serrano,

Pontes‐Nogueira,

Sawaya

et al. 2024

Journal of Biogeography

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AimThe widespread megadiverse Neotropical snake family Dipsadidae occurs in a large range of diverse habitats. Therefore, it represents an excellent model to study the diversification of Neotropical biota. Herein, by generating a time‐calibrated species‐level phylogeny, we investigate the origin and historical biogeography of Dipsadidae and test if its two main Neotropical subfamilies, Xenodontinae and Dipsadinae, have different geographical origins.LocationNeotropical region.TaxonDipsadidae (Serpentes).MethodsWe generated a new Bayesian time‐calibrated phylogeny based on published sequences from six genes for 344 species, including 287 species of Dipsadidae. We subsequently estimated ancestral areas of distribution by comparing models in BioGeoBEARS: DEC (subset sympatry, narrow vicariance), DIVALIKE (narrow and wide vicariance), BAYAREALIKE (no vicariance and widespread sympatry), also testing jump dispersal. We also estimated shifts in the diversification of this group using BAMM, exploring possible relationships with its historical biogeography.ResultsThe best models show that Dipsadidae likely originated approximately 50 million years ago (mya) in Asia. Dispersal was a fundamental process in its historical biogeography. The DEC model with jump dispersal indicated that this family underwent a range extension from Asia and posterior vicariance of North and Central America ancestors. Both Xenodontinae and Dipsadinae originated in Central America and dispersed to South America during Middle Eocene, but did so to different regions (cis and trans‐Andean South America, respectively). Xenodontinae entered cis‐Andean South America around 39 mya and jump dispersed to the West Indies around 33 mya, while Dipsadinae entered trans‐Andean South America multiple times 20–38 mya. The diversification rate decreased through time, except for a clade within Dipsadinae composed of the Dipsadini tribe and the Atractus and Geophis genera.Main ConclusionsOur results show that Dipsadidae has an Asian origin and that the two main Neotropical subfamilies originated in Central America, later dispersing to South America in different time periods. This difference is also reflected in the higher diversification rate for the ‘goo‐eaters’ in the Dipsadinae subfamily. The current biogeographical patterns of the family Dipsadidae, the most species‐rich snake family in the world, have likely been shaped by complex evolutionary and geological processes such as Eocene land bridges, Andean uplift and the formation of the Panama isthmus.

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The turtles from ‘Gilmore’s slab’: evolution and diversity of the extinct turtleEchmatemys(Testudines: Testudinoidea: Geoemydidae) from the central United States

Vlachos

2020

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

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Eocene North American Testudinidae and Geoemydidae (Reptilia, Testudines): A Re-Evaluation of Their Alpha Taxonomy, Ecology, and Origin

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

Geometric morphometrics and anatomical network analyses reveal ecospace partitioning among geoemydid turtles from the Uinta Formation, Utah

Geometric morphometrics and anatomical network analyses reveal ecospace partitioning among geoemydid turtles from the Uinta Formation, Utah

There and back again: when and how the world's richest snake family (Dipsadidae) dispersed and speciated across the Neotropical region

The turtles from ‘Gilmore’s slab’: evolution and diversity of the extinct turtleEchmatemys(Testudines: Testudinoidea: Geoemydidae) from the central United States

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