Ítem
Acceso Abierto
The anatomy, paleobiology, and evolutionary relationships of the largest extinct side-necked turtle
Título de la revista
Autores
Cadena, Edwin Alberto
Scheyer, T M
Carrillo-Briceño, J D
Sanchez David, Ruben
Aguilera-Socorro, O A
Vanegas, A
Pardo, M
Hansen, D M
Sánchez-Villagra, M R
Archivos
Fecha
2020
Directores
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Citations
Métricas alternativas
Resumen
Abstract
Despite being among the largest turtles that ever lived, the biology and systematics of Stupendemys geographicus remain largely unknown because of scant, fragmentary finds. We describe exceptional specimens and new localities of S. geographicus from the Miocene of Venezuela and Colombia. We document the largest shell reported for any extant or extinct turtle, with a carapace length of 2.40 m and estimated mass of 1.145 kg, almost 100 times the size of its closest living relative, the Amazon river turtle Peltocephalus dumerilianus, and twice that of the largest extant turtle, the marine leatherback Dermochelys coriacea. The new specimens greatly increase knowledge of the biology and evolution of this iconic species. Our findings suggest the existence of a single giant turtle species across the northern Neotropics, but with two shell morphotypes, suggestive of sexual dimorphism. Bite marks and punctured bones indicate interactions with large caimans that also inhabited the northern Neotropics. Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved;
Palabras clave
Keywords
Amazon river , Colombia , Evolutionary relationships , Morphotypes , Neotropics , New specimen , Sexual dimorphism , Venezuela , Biology
Citations
