28.9.22

El más antiguo pleurostérnido europeo en las IX Jornadas de Salas de los Infantes


Varios trabajos sobre el registro fósil de tortugas primitivas han sido presentados en las recientemente celebradas IX Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su Entorno por parte de miembros del Grupo de Biología Evolutiva de la UNED. Entre ellos se incluye uno sobre un linaje de formas de agua dulce, Pleurosternidae, y, en concreto, sobre el representante más antiguo conocido para el registro Europeo: Selenemys lusitanica. El resumen de este trabajo, que ha sido defendido en formato póster, es el siguiente:

Pleurosternidae is the only lineage of freshwater stem turtles (i.e., Testudinata not attributable to the crown Testudines) recognized in both the Upper Jurassic and the Lower Cretaceous records of Europe. This Laurasian lineage of Paracryptodira was identified by several representatives in this continent, the greatest diversity recorded corresponding to that from the Iberian Peninsula. The Iberian diversity is represented by forms recognized as exclusive to this region, all of them defined after 2010. In fact, the youngest representative of Pleurosternidae and the oldest European member of the group are identified there. The latter corresponds to Selenemys lusitanica, from the upper Kimmeridgian of the Lusitanian Basin, in central-western Portugal. The species was defined by a shell preserving the complete plastron and the partial disarticulated carapace, from Santa Rita (Torres Vedras). A partial articulated shell and three isolated plates from the nearby locality of Peralta (Lourinhã) were also attributed to it in the paper where it was defined. Considering the preservation of these remains, the original morphology of the shell could not be adequately defined, and several anatomical characters, some of them being relevant for the systematic discussions about the members of this lineage, could not be recognized. However, no additional material attributed to the species have been subsequently published.

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