Reconstrucción tridimensional del cráneo de un nuevo ejemplar de Taphrosphys y estudio preliminar de su neuroanatomía en el Turtle Evolution Symposium 2024

Durante el Turtle Evolution Symposium 2024, celebrado en la localidad suiza de Friburgo, se presentó la reconstrucción tridimensional del cráneo de un nuevo ejemplar de tortuga localizada en Marruecos, e identificada como perteneciente a la especie Taphrosphys ippolitoi (Bothremydidae, Taphrosphyini). A partir de las imágenes obtenidas mediante un escáner de alta resolución y los modelos tridimensionales del cráneo, se analizaron de manera preliminar los elementos neuroanatómicos en este género de tortugas. El resumen de la comunicación es el siguiente:

Taphrosphyini was a successful lineage within Bothremydidae that inhabited several Laurasian and Gondwanan areas, from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene. Taphrosphys is identified as the most diverse genus within Taphrosphyini, being represented by three Paleocene species, corresponding to a North American and two African forms. The cranial anatomy of all of them is relatively well-known. Although some neuroanatomical elements of several representatives of Taphrosphyini were described and figured (not for Taphrosphys, but some aspects of the endosseous labyrinth of Taphrosphys ippolitoi were considered in comparative framework), the detailed study of the neuroanatomy of no member of this clade was carried out. This contribution presents the first complete neuroanatomical study of a representative of Taphrosphyini. This is based on the analysis of an unpublished almost complete skull of Taphrosphys from Morocco, a priori attributable to Taphrosphys ippolitoi based on knowledge about the paleobiogeographic distribution of the members of this genus. It was scanned through a high-resolution micro-CT. The obtained archives were processed, generating the three-dimensional models of both the skull and the inner cavities related with neuroanatomical structures. The study of cranial characters will allow us to evaluate its specific attribution. The comparison of the endocranial and labyrinthic cavities, and the circulatory and nerve canals of this specimen with those of the representatives of Taphrosphyini in which these structures are known, but also with other bothremydids, will allow us recognizing neuroanatomical features shared by all bothremydids and, potentially, exclusive for Taphrosphyini or not shared with other representatives within this lineage.

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Más información:

• Referencia: Martín-Jiménez, M., Catalá Montolio, J., and Pérez-García, A. 2024. Neuroanatomy of the Paleocene bothremydid turtle Taphrosphys (Pleurodira, Taphrosphyini), based on a skull from Morocco. In: Evers, S. W., Joyce, W. G., Rollot, Y. (Eds.). Abstracts book of the Symposim on Turtle Evolution: 16.