Affiliation:
1. Luhansk State Pedagogical University, Oboronnaya St. 2, 291011 Luhansk, Russia
2. Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Emb. 1, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Abstract
The article describes fossil material of a leatherback sea turtle Dermochelyidae indet. from the Bayurbas and Sandy localities of the Shorym Formation (Bartonian, Middle Eocene) of the Mangyshlak Peninsula, Kazakhstan. The material is represented by cranial remains of one individual (Bayurbas) and an epithecal plate of the shell (Sandy). Dermochelyidae indet. from the Shorym Formation differ from all known dermochelyids in the morphology of the skull roof and the dentary. Based on the morphology of the epithecal plate, it is most similar to the representatives of the genera Cosmochelys Andrews, 1919 and Egyptemys Wood et al., 1996, whose skulls are unknown. The described cranial remains partially fill a large temporal gap (about 13.9 Ma) in our knowledge of the skull morphology of dermochelyids, between the oldest Ypresian species and the Rupelian Cardiochelys rupeliensis (Van Beneden, 1883). In addition, these are the first cranial remains of dermochelyids described from northern Eurasia (territory of the former Soviet Union).
Publisher
Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Reference32 articles.
1. Albright L.B., Sanders A.E., Weems R.E., Cicimurri D.J. and Knight J.L. 2019. Cenozoic vertebrate biostratigraphy of South Carolina, U.S.A., and additions to the fauna. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History, 57: 77‒236. https://doi.org/10.58782/flmnh.qqgg4577
2. Andrews C.A. 1919. A description of a new species of zeuglodont and of leathery turtle from the Eocene of southern Nigeria. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 18: 309‒319. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1919.tb02124.x
3. Averianov A.O. 1997. Paleogene sea snakes from the eastern part of Tethys. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 4(2): 128–142. https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-1997-4-2-128-142
4. Bergouinoux F.M. 1956. Les reptiles fossiles des dépôts phosphatés sud tunisiens. Annales des Mines et de la Géologie, 15: 1–105.
5. Danilov I.G., Syromyatnikova E.V. and Sukhanov V.B. 2017. Subclass Testudinata. In: A.V. Lopatin and N.V. Zelenkov (Eds). Fossil vertebrates of Russia and adjacent countries. Fossil reptiles and birds. Part 4. GEOS, Moscow: 27–395. [In Russian].