Nostimochelone lampra gen. et sp. nov., an Enigmatic New Podocnemidoidean Turtle from the Early Miocene of Northern Greece

Abstract

A new podocnemidoidean turtle, Nostimochelone lampra gen. et sp. nov., was recently recovered from littoral marine-estuarine sediments of the lower Miocene Zeugostasion Formation, near the village of Nostimo in northwestern Macedonia, Greece. This new taxon is characterized by a mosaic of primitive and derived features most notably the presence of a broad embayment on the anterior carapace margin, which involves both the nuchal (whose width [ length) and first pair of peripherals, a continuous series of six markedly elongate and very narrowed hexagonal neural bones, extension of the axillary buttress onto the midline of the anteroposteriorly elongate costal I (leaving a concave scar) and also laterally across the peripheral II-peripheral III suture, medial contact of the humeral scutes (implying a small intergular), and extensive overlap of the pectoral scutes on the entoplastron, probably extending to the epiplastral-hyoplastral suture. Conclusive phylogenetic placement of Nostimochelone is difficult to establish because the remains are incompletely preserved. Nevertheless, its discovery is significant because it represents both the first record of a pleurodiran turtle from Greece and also one of only a handful of fossil podocnemidoidean occurrences thus far documented from the Neogene of Europe.

A new species of Mauremys (Testudines, Geoemydidae) from the late Miocene – Pliocene of Central Macedonia (northern Greece) with exceptionally wide vertebral scutes

“…), erection of new species (Georgalis et al . ; Vlachos et al . ; Vlachos & Tsoukala ), as well as new additions to the Greek palaeochelonofauna (e.g.…”

A global phylogeny of Pelomedusoides turtles with new material ofNeochelys franzeniSchleich, 1993 (Testudines, Podocnemididae) from the middle Eocene, Messel Pit, of Germany

“…Pleurodires or side-necked turtles are restricted today to South America, Africa, Madagascar, and Australia ( Rhodin et al, 2010 ). However, their fossil record in particular that of the clades Podocnemididae and Bothremydidae shows a wider global distribution during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic, with abundant occurrences in Europe ( Gaffney, Tong & Meylan, 2006 ; Gaffney et al, 2011 ; Georgalis et al, 2013 ; Pérez-García & Lapparent de Broin, 2013 ). European podocnemidids are included in a single genus ( Neochelys ) with at least eight clearly defined species ( N. arenarum , N. capellinii, N. eocaenica, N. franzeni, N. laurenti, N. liriae, N. salmanticensis , and N. zamorensis ) restricted to the Eocene (Early Ypresian to Bartonian, ∼56–38 Ma) (see Pérez-García & Lapparent de Broin, 2013 ) for details about species authorities, localities, morphological comparison of species, and issues relating to fragmentary material.…”

The turtles from the upper Eocene, Osona County (Ebro Basin, Catalonia, Spain): new material and its faunistic and environmental context

“…To summarize, contrary to Podocnemididae, Bothremydidae lack living representatives. Bothremydidae are present in Europe during the Cenozoic and identified from the lower Eocene (Ypresian) to the Oligocene, and particularly during the middle Eocene (Lutetian) in Avesa (Italy) and Catalonia (Spain) and perhaps in Greece (Georgalis et al, 2013;Sect. S3.1).…”