On Remains of Eocene and Mesozoic Chelonia and a Tooth of (?) Ornithopsis

Abstract

The greater portion of the present communication is devoted to the consideration of Chelonia, and more especially to specimens from the Cambridge Greensand, most of which were collected nearly twenty years ago by my college friend Mr. T. Jesson, F.G.S., of Northampton. It includes, however, the description of an interesting Chelonian from the Wealden, kindly lent to me by the Rev. P. B. Brodie; and also makes certain redeterminations as to the affinities and serial position of some of the marine Chelonians of the London Clay. The tooth from the Wealden referred to Ornithopsis leads to the consideration of the affinities of some allied specimens from the Portlandian of France. 1. The Genus Rhinochelys, of the Cambridge Greensand. The name Rhinochelys was applied in 1869 by Prof. H. G. Seeley to the Chelonian cranium from the Cambridge Greensand figured by Sir R. Owen in his ‘Cretaceous Reptalia’ (Mon. Pal. Soc.), pt. i. pl. vii. A, figs. 1-3 (1851), under the name of Chelone pulchriceps , of which species it is the type. The distinctive features of this cranium, as shown by the figure, are that the pterygoids, which are in contact throughout their length, are comparatively narrow and emarginate, and that the palatines unite in the median line. There are, moreover, distinct nasals, the prefontals being separated from one another by the nasals and frontals. Again, the temporal fossæ are completely roofed over, after a manner now obtaining only in the Chelonidæ—that is to say, there is both and inferior and

Allaeochelys libyca, a New Carettochelyine Turtle from the Middle Miocene (Langhian) of Libya

“…To date, cranial material has only been reported for the Late Cretaceous Kizylkumemys schultzi (Nessov 1977) and the Eocene taxa Anosteira pulchra (Gaffney 1979), Allaeochelys crassesculpta (Harrassowitz 1922) and Allaeochelys delheidi (Lydekker 1889), but all descriptions are insufficient to allow making meaningful comparisons. We therefore restrict ourselves to making comparisons with the extant, but morphologically similar, Carettochelys insculpta.…”

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

“…Brodiechelys is also present in the area of Hastings (Sussex, Weald Sub-basin), where fragmentary and poorly preserved shells, corresponding to an indeterminate species, have also been identified. Study of these specimens of Brodiechelys brodiei indicated its intraspecific variability, and the identification of Plesiochelys valdensis Lydekker, 1889 and Plesiochelys vectensis Hooley, 1900 as junior synonyms of Brodiechelys brodiei. The comparison of these shells has led a new diagnosis for this taxon and evidence that it is a member of the stem group of Cryptodira (Pérez-García 2012a).…”

“…Brodiechelys brodiei (Lydekker, 1889) is a eucryptodiran turtle currently known only from the Wealden of the United Kingdom. Available information on this taxon was, until now, very limited.…”

“…Brodiechelys brodiei (Lydekker, 1889) 1889 Plesiochelys valdensis Lydekker, 1889;Lydekker 1889: 239. 1900Plesiochelys vectensis Hooley, 1900Hooley 1900Hooley : 264-265.…”

“…1900Plesiochelys vectensis Hooley, 1900Hooley 1900Hooley : 264-265. 1928 Brodiechelys brodiei (Lydekker, 1889) or slightly notched; slender and very numerous grooves on the vertebral and pleural scutes; length of the first pair of costal plates equal or slightly greater than that of second pair; absence of dorsal thickening on the lateral edges of the anterior peripherals; cervical scute more than four times wider than long; medially convex sulcus between third and fourth vertebrals, without a marked change of profile in the area of contact; first pleural scute overlapping the medial half of the first peripheral plates; fifth to seventh marginals slightly overlapping the lateral margins of the second to fourth costal plates; subrounded anterior plastral lobe; subrounded lateral margins of the posterior lobe.…”