Abstract
The internal cast of a turtle shell, found near the town of Cabrejas del Pinar (Soria Province, Castile and Leon Autonomous Community, Spain), is presented here. It is the first fossil vertebrate recognized in the vicinity of that town. This specimen was found in a middle Cretaceous bed (Cenomanian), deposited in a coastal marine environment. It is recognized as attributable to a member of the crown group Pleurodira. No representative of this clade had so far been found in pre-Campanian strata in the Castile and Leon Autonomous Community. In fact, the pre-Campanian record of the crown Pleurodira is very limited in Laurasia. The hitherto known record of pre-Campanian turtles from Castile and Leon consisted of basal forms (members of the terrestrial clade Helochelydridae and of the freshwater Pleurosternidae) and of freshwater representatives of Eucryptodira, all of them found in layers older than that where the new turtle remain was found. The availability of characters in the analyzed specimen allows it to be recognized as compatible with the littoral bothremydid turtle Algorachelus.
Resumen
Se presenta aquí el molde interno del caparazón de una tortuga, procedente del término municipal de Cabrejas del Pinar (Provincia de Soria, Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León, España). El ejemplar corresponde al primer resto de un vertebrado fósil hallado en las inmediaciones de dicha población. Su hallazgo se produjo en un nivel del Cretácico medio (Cenomaniense), depositado en un ambiente marino costero. El espécimen es atribuible a un miembro del grupo corona Pleurodira. Ningún representante de este clado había sido previamente reconocido en niveles pre-campanienses de Castilla y León. De hecho, el registro pre-campaniense de Pleurodira es muy escaso en Laurasia. Las tortugas hasta ahora notificadas en los niveles pre-campanienses de Castilla y León estaban restringidas a formas basales (miembros del clado terrestre Helochelydridae y del acuático Pleurosternidae) y a representantes dulceacuícolas de Eucryptodira, todas ellas provenientes de niveles más antiguos que aquel del nuevo hallazgo aquí notificado. La disponibilidad de caracteres en el espécimen de Cabrejas del Pinar permite reconocerlo como compatible con el botremídido litoral Algorachelus.
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Acknowledgements
The author thanks the artist Juan Manuel Pérez Hernández, born in Cabrejas del Pinar, for the discovery and donation of the specimen studied here, as well as the interest of his family in the enhancement of the natural heritage of their region. He also thanks the Sorian paleontologist Marcos Martín Jimenez (UNED) for his support in this project; the editors of the Journal, W. Joyce and an anonymous reviewer for comments and suggestions; and the editors of this special volume for their proposal of the possible publication of this paper.
Funding
This research has been funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2019-111488RB-I00) and Viceconsejería de Cultura of the Consejería de Educacion, Cultura y Deportes of Castilla-La Mancha (SBPLY/19/180801/000034).
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Pérez-García, A. First evidence of a bothremydid turtle (crown Pleurodira) in the middle Cretaceous of Castile and Leon (Spain). J Iber Geol 46, 363–368 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-020-00146-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-020-00146-9