Giant fossil tortoise and freshwater chelid turtle remains from the middle Miocene, Quebrada Honda, Bolivia: evidence for lower paleoelevations for the southern Altiplano

Cadena, Edwin Alberto; Anaya, Federico; Croft, Darin A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2015.10.013

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Solo Metadatos

Giant fossil tortoise and freshwater chelid turtle remains from the middle Miocene, Quebrada Honda, Bolivia: evidence for lower paleoelevations for the southern Altiplano

https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/27780
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2015.10.013

Autores

Cadena, Edwin Alberto

Anaya, Federico

Croft, Darin A.

Fecha

2015-12-01

Editor

Elsevier

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Abstract

We describe the first Miocene turtle remains from Bolivia, which were collected from the late middle Miocene (13.18–13.03 Ma) of Quebrada Honda, southern Bolivia. This material includes a large scapula-acromion and fragmentary shell elements conferred to the genus Chelonoidis (Testudinidae), and a left xiphiplastron from a pleurodire or side-necked turtle, conferred to Acanthochelys (Chelidae). The occurrence of a giant tortoise and a freshwater turtle suggests that the paleoelevation of the region when the fossils were deposited was lower than has been estimated by stable isotope proxies, with a maximum elevation probably less than 1000 m. At a greater elevation, cool temperatures would have been beyond the tolerable physiological limits for these turtles and other giant ectotherm reptiles.