Shell bone histology of solemydid turtles (stem Testudines): palaeoecological implications

Scheyer, Torsten M.; Pérez‐García, Adán; Murelaga, Xabier

doi:10.1007/s13127-014-0188-0

Cited by 36 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The presence of osteoderms, known in the limbs of several representatives of Solemydidae, suggests terrestrial habitat (Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga, 1999; Joyce et al, 2011). This hypothesis has recently been confirmed by histological studies (Scheyer et al, 2015) …”

Section: Turtlesmentioning

confidence: 86%

Late cretaceous continental and marine vertebrate assemblages from the Laño quarry (Basque-Cantabrian Region, Iberian Peninsula): an update

Suberbiola

Corral²,

Astibia

et al. 2015

Journal of Iberian Geology

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The vertebrate-bearing beds of the Laño quarry (Condado de Treviño) are among the most relevant sites from the Late Cretaceous of Europe. Geologically, Laño and the adjacent region are set on the southern limb of the South-Cantabrian Synclinorium (SE Basque-Cantabrian Region, northern Iberian Peninsula). The Laño sites were discovered in 1984; thousands of bones and teeth, including microfossils, have been collected during the prospection in the field and excavation campaigns. The vertebrate remains occur at two different stratigraphic horizons within a continental to shallow marine succession of Late Campanian-Maastrichtian age. The lower horizon contains the Laño 1 and Laño 2 sites, whereas the upper horizon contains the Albaina site. In the Laño sites, three fossiliferous beds (called L1A, L1B and L2) are known within an alluvial system composed mainly of fluvial sands and silts. The sedimentary structures are consistent with channel areas within an extensive braided river system. Based mainly on stratigraphic correlations, the fluvial beds of Laño are regarded as Late Campanian to Early Maastrichtian in age. These deposits have yielded a very diverse vertebrate assemblage, which consists of nearly 40 species, including actinopterygians, lissamphibians, lepidosaurs, turtles, crocodyliforms, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and mammals. Seven genera and ten species have been erected to date in Laño. With reference to the marine vertebrate association of Albaina, it consists of at least 37 species, including sharks and rays, actinopterygians, mosasaurids, and plesiosaurs. Two genera and species of rhinobatoids (family indet.) and two new species of rhinobatids have been erected in Albaina. The fossil association indicates a Late (but not latest) Maastrichtian age. Recently, isolated turtle and dinosaur fossils have been discovered in the sublittoral beds of Albaina. The Laño quarry is one of the most noteworthy Campanian-Maastrichtian vertebrate localities of Europe by its taxonomic diversity, and provides useful information about the composition and affinities of both continental and marine vertebrate faunas from the latest Cretaceous of southwestern Europe.

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Section: Turtlesmentioning

confidence: 86%

Late cretaceous continental and marine vertebrate assemblages from the Laño quarry (Basque-Cantabrian Region, Iberian Peninsula): an update

Suberbiola

Corral²,

Astibia

et al. 2015

Journal of Iberian Geology

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“…Scheyer et al . (, ) interpreted the vascularization of the shell micostructure as an ecological signal rather than a phylogenetic one. On the other hand, some characteristics are not present in all chelids (although present in other turtles); the Sharpey's fibres in the ECO are only reported in Chelus fimbriatus , Hydromedusa tectifera , Yaminuechelys ssp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New remains of the aquatic turtle Hydromedusa casamayorensis (Pleurodira, Chelidae) from the middle Eocene of Patagonia: taxonomic validation and phylogenetic relationships

Maniel

Fuente

Sterli

et al. 2018

Papers in Palaeontology

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Twenty-seven new specimens recovered from lower levels of the Sarmiento Formation (Casamayoran SALMA, middle Eocene) in the 'Cañad on Hondo' area, Chubut (Argentina), bring new information on the Palaeogene long-necked chelid Hydromedusa casamayorensis. The discovery of cranial and postcranial remains allows a complete description of the only known extinct species of the genus Hydromedusa recognizing diagnostic characters that revalidate the taxonomic status of this species. Hydromedusa casamayorensis is incorporated into a cladistic framework of chelid turtles. The unconstrained and constrained phylogenetic analyses recovered H. casamayorensis as a sister taxon of Hydromedusa maximiliani plus H. tectifera. A Danian age is proposed at least for the origin of the Hydromedusa clade, while a Late Cretaceous age is suggested for the split from the Yaminuechelys clade. Great differences in size are documented for H. casamayorensis based on the various specimens recovered from this study. The osteohistological study in H. casamayorensis and H. tectifera shows similarities in the internal cortex and cancellous bone of both taxa, but some differences are observed in the external cortex of H. casamayorensis (e.g. a parallel fibred bone on the more external surface of this cortex).

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“…The high shell bone compactness in turtles is generally considered as evidence of a terrestrial mode of life Scheyer et al, 2014Scheyer et al, , 2015. However, costal bones of extant trionychians, a group that is highly adapted to nonmarine aquatic habitats, exhibit high compactness that is clearly not a result of terrestrial adaptation.…”

Section: The Trionychid Affinity Of the Hauterivian-aptian Specimens mentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological and histological evidence for the oldest known softshell turtles from Japan

Nakajima

Danilov

Hirayama

et al. 2017

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

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Herein we report morphologically and histologically diagnostic trionychid specimens from the Barremian-Aptian (129.4-113.0 Ma) of Japan. One specimen (FPDM-V9487) is an associated skeleton that consists of a scapula, a humerus, an ischium, and hypoplastra. The limb and girdle bones are similar in morphology to those of modern trionychids.The hypoplastron also resembles that of modern trionychids; however, it is distinctive in that it completely lacks callosities.The other three new specimens are fragmentary costals that show a reduction in the shell bones and an absence of scute sulci.Two of the newly reported costals and FPDM-V0127 were examined histologically. Bone fiber bundles organized in a plywood-like structure, which is unique to trionychids, were identified. Fossil occurrence data indicate that morphologically and histologically typical trionychids already inhabited the coastal region of Asia (e.g., western Japan) as early as the Aptian. In contrast, the Hauterivian-Aptian stem trionychid Kappachelys okurai from Japan does not show a plywood-like shell microstructure, suggesting that K. okurai could be the earliest-branching taxon of known stem trionychids or a carettochelyid. Our paleobiogeographic compilation suggests that the spread of wetlands in the Northern Hemisphere and the high global temperature during the middle Cretaceous (Aptian-Turonian, 125.0-89.8 Ma) might have contributed to the dispersal of trionychids from Asia, allowing for the establishment of this modern freshwater reptilian fauna.

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Shell bone histology of solemydid turtles (stem Testudines): palaeoecological implications

Cited by 36 publications

References 29 publications

Late cretaceous continental and marine vertebrate assemblages from the Laño quarry (Basque-Cantabrian Region, Iberian Peninsula): an update

Late cretaceous continental and marine vertebrate assemblages from the Laño quarry (Basque-Cantabrian Region, Iberian Peninsula): an update

New remains of the aquatic turtle Hydromedusa casamayorensis (Pleurodira, Chelidae) from the middle Eocene of Patagonia: taxonomic validation and phylogenetic relationships

Morphological and histological evidence for the oldest known softshell turtles from Japan

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