Inferencias en el tipo de dieta de la tortuga Algorachelus peregrina en el XX Annual Meeting de la EAVP

Durante la sesión de posters del pasado XX Annual Meeting de la EAVP, celebrado en Sabadell (España), se presentó el trabajo titulado “A preliminary approach toward the feeding strategy of the Spanish Cenomanian bothremydid turtle Algorachelus peregrina”. En este trabajo se hace la reconstrucción virtual de Algorachelus peregrina junto a la musculatura relacionada con su proceso de masticación, con el objetivo de inferir en el tipo de dieta de esta especie de tortuga. Podéis ver el resumen a continuación:

The bothremydid turtle Algorachelus peregrina corresponds to the oldest representative of the crown group Pleurodira known in Europe. The type locality of this species (i.e., the Cenomanian site of Algora, in central Spain), has provided numerous complete and well-preserved shells which allowed us to recognize it as the best-represented bothremydid in the European record. Studies relating to its intraspecific shell variability and the disarticulation patterns of this element having been performed. However, there are still unknown relevant aspects of this turtle species, including those relative to its dietary preferences and feeding mechanisms. In this context, the partial skull corresponding to one of its paratypes, as well as unpublished cranial remains, allowed us to make a first approximation to the feeding strategy of A. peregrina. Thus, this study aims to estimate the muscle mass and bite force of this species. To achieve the proposed objective, we made a 3D reconstruction of the muscles of the aforementioned paratype, of a relatively complete skull and of an isolated but almost complete lower jaw, obtained from digital photogrammetry. The utilization of the Pixologic ZBrush v.2021.5 and Geomagic Studio v.2014 programs allowed us to obtain virtual meshes suitable for generating 3D reconstructions. As a result, a high muscle mass index was evidenced, with high values in masticatory force. These results coincide with the data reported in extant turtles with a durophagous diet.

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Más información:

• Referencia: Guerrero, A., Pérez-García, A. 2023. A preliminary approach toward the feeding strategy of the Spanish Cenomanian bothremydid turtle Algorachelus peregrina. In: Alba, D.M., Marigó, J., Nacarino-Meneses, C., Villa, A. (Eds.), Book of Abstracts of the 20th Annual Conference of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists, 26th June– 1st July 2023. Palaeovertebrata, Special Volume 1-2023: 22. DOI: 10.18563/pv.eavp2023 (p. 115).