Phylogenetic systematics of chelonioid sea turtles

Abstract Chelonioid sea turtles (Order Testudinata; Superfamily Chelonioidea) first appear in the early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian). Their long fossil record is excellent compared to most marine tetrapods. Nonetheless, there has been no inclusive attempt to provide an analysis of cladistic relationships among this group. In this paper, the following chelonioid classification is proposed, based on 76 characters among 20 fossil and six living well- represented genera:

• 1 Family Cheloniidae (Coniacian to Recent); Toxochelys, Ctenochelys, Osteopygis, Erquelinnesia, Allopleuron, Argillochelys, Puppigerus, Eochelone, Syllomus, Natator, Eretmochelys, Chelonia, Caretta, Lepidochelys
• 2 Family Protostegidae (Aptian to Maastrichtian?); ‘Santana new protostegid’,Rhinochelys, Notochelone, Desmatochelys, Chelosphargis, Protostega, Archelon
• 3 Family Dermochelyidae (Santonian? to Recent); Corsochelys, ‘HMG new dermo-chelyid’, Eosphargis, Psephophorus, Dermochelys.

     

New marine reptile fossils from the Late Jurassic of Poland with implications for vertebrate faunas palaeobiogeography

A new marine vertebrate assemblage from the Late Jurassic (late Kimmeridgian) at Krzy?anowice near I??a in the NE margin of the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland is described. This new locality is rich in fossils of coastal and pelagic reptiles. The most frequent fossils are plesiochelyid turtle shell fragments and pliosaurid skull bones and teeth. The Krzy?anowice vertebrate assemblage is similar to the Late Jurassic Boreal/Sub-Boreal localities of the Kimmeridge Clay in Great Britain and Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic, in the presence of pliosaurids and long-necked plesiosaurids. However, plesiochelyid turtles and crocodylomorphs are similar to those from the Mediterranean/Sub-Mediterranean sites of the northern border of the Tethys Ocean, as, for example, in the Swiss Jura Mountains and Southern Germany. This unique composition of the Krzy?anowice vertebrate fauna demonstrates that, during the Late Jurassic this new locality was located in the transitional palaeobiogeographic line referred to in this paper as the “Matyja-Wierzbowski Line”. The new palaeobiogeographical reconstructions of Late Jurassic of Europe are based on the composition of the Krzy?anowice locality and other sites with similar turtle-pliosaurid faunas which formed a long-term, stable ecological sympatry in marine ecosystems of the European Archipelago.