Neochelys zamorensis en el XX Annual Meeting de la EAVP

Siguiendo con el estudio de las tortugas pleurodiras del Eoceno de la Cuenca del Duero, miembros del Grupo de Biología Evolutiva de la UNED han presentado una contribución en el XX Annual Meeting de la European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (EAVP). De las dos especies del podocnemídido Neochelys identificadas actualmente en esa región, la más antigua y menos conocida es Neochelys zamorensis. Su presencia había sido, hasta ahora, únicamente confirmada a partir de material proveniente de su localidad tipo (Sanzoles, en Zamora). Sin embargo, en este trabajo se han presentado numerosos y bien preservados restos procedentes del área de Cubillos-Monfarracinos, también en Zamora, evaluándose su potencial atribución a la especie. El resumen del trabajo es el siguiente:

Podocnemididae are one of the three extant lineages of pleurodiran turtles. Podocnemidids are currently restricted to the southern hemisphere, with freshwater African and South American representatives. However, this lineage, recognized from the Late Cretaceous, reached Europe during the early Eocene, where it is represented up to the upper Eocene record. The most abundant and diverse pleurodiran genus in the European Cenozoic record is the Eocene freshwater podocnemidid Neochelys. Its youngest representatives are two Iberian species defined in the Duero Basin (Central Spain): Neochelys salmanticensis and Neochelys zamorensis. Knowledge about the former has increased thanks to recent studies. In contrast, N. zamorensis is poorly known, lacking a sufficiently detailed diagnosis and being confidently reported exclusively through scarce material from its type locality: the Lutetian levels of Sanzoles, in the Zamora Province. Abundant and well-preserved material of pleurodires was found in the Cubillos-Monfarracinos synchronous area, also in Zamora. In addition to hundreds of isolated plates, more than forty partial or relatively complete shells or sets of articulated plates, as well as many other skeletal remains, were recovered. Since N. zamorensis is only known from shell remains, those from the Cubillos-Monfarracinos area are compared to those from the type locality. Our objective is to evaluate if the same species is represented in both locations, which seems very likely. If so, knowledge about the poorly known anatomy of N. zamorensis could be greatly increased, both through this study on shells and through future analyses of other skeletal regions (especially the cranium and appendicular skeleton).

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Más información:

• Referencia: Pérez-García, A., Guerrero, A., Martín de Jesús, S., Ortega, F. 2023. Assessing the presence of the podocnemidid turtle Neochelys zamorensis outside its type locality (Sanzoles, Zamora, Central Spain). 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. 206).