Descripción de las extremidades posteriores de la tortuga Neochelys zamorensis en las XXXIX Jornadas de la SEP

En las XXXIX Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología celebradas la semana pasada en A Coruña, se presentó una charla sobre la descripción preliminar de las extremidades posteriores de la tortuga luteciense Neochelys zamorensis, procedente de la Cuenca del Duero (España). Para el género Neochelys, sólo hay descritos elementos del esqueleto apendicular de una especie, Neochelys franzeni de Messel (Alemania). Se ha comparado las extremidades posteriores de N. zamorensis con las de N. franzeni, así como con las de N. salmanticensis, la otra especie de Neochelys descrita en la Cuenca del Duero y cuyo esqueleto apendicular se encuentra también en proceso de estudio. Además, se ha comparado con otras especies de tortugas pleurodiras, tanto fósiles como actuales. El resumen es el siguiente:

The Duero Basin (northwestern Spain) shows a relevant record of Eocene vertebrate fossils, especially considering the turtle remains. Several lineages of turtles are recognized there, highlightedboth for their abundance and diversity the podocnemidids, with several forms attributable to the genus Neochelys. The Lutetian (middle Eocene) Neochelys zamorensis is poorly known despite being the best represented species, and only the shell of its holotype has been analyzed. Thousands of remains of this turtle have been recovered including both articulated and disarticulated carapaces, skulls, and appendicular elements. Among the large collection of appendicular bones of this taxon, several articulated sets stand out, corresponding to partial to complete hindlimbs. We present here the preliminary study of both an almost complete hindlimb, articulated with a partial shell, and two pes from the Lutetian levels of the Valdegallina palaeontological locality (Zamora Province, Castile and Leon Autonomous Community, Spain). Recent studies have confirmed that Neochelys zamorensis is present there, where one the highest concentration of remains of the turtle known to date in Spain has been recorded. These elements were processed through a high-resolution scanner. The three-dimensional reconstructions of these articulated sets, as well as each individual bone, allow us to characterize, for the first time, the posterior appendicular skeleton of this species in comparison to those of other representatives of Neochelys and other podocnemidids.

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Más información:

• Referencia: Gutiérrez-Gálvez, M., Ortega, F., Martín de Jesús, S., Pérez-García, A. Preliminary description of the himblimb of the Spanish Lutetian Neochelys zamorensis (Pleurodira; Podocnemididae). In Moncunill-Solé, B., Blanco, A., Grandal d’Anglade, A., González Fortes, G., Santos Fidalgo, L., Bao, R. (Eds.), Libro de Resúmenes de las XXXIX Jornadas SEP. Palaeontological Publications 5, 179.