Abstract
The incomplete skeleton of a juvenile sea turtle (Cheloniidae) is described from the terminal Bartonian (late Middle Eocene) of the Gorny Luch locality (Krasnodar krai, Russia) as Eochelone sp. The new find extends the known geographic distribution of turtles of the genus Eochelone Dollo, 1903, previously known in Europe only from the Lutetian of Belgium and Ukraine, the Bartonian of England and the Priabonian of Spain. In addition, the described specimen has common features with “Allopleuron” qazaqstanense Karl et al., 2012 from the Bartonian and, possibly, the Lutetian of Kazakhstan.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Averianov, A.O., A new sea turtle (Testudines, Cheloniidae) from the Middle Eocene of Uzbekistan, Paleontol. J., 2005, no. 6, pp. 73–76.
Averianov, A.O., Review of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sea turtles from the former USSR, Russ. J. Herpetol., 2002, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 137–154.
Bannikov, A.F., Iskopayemye pozvonochnye Rossii i sopredel’nykh stran. Iskopayemye kolyucheperye ryby (Teleostei, Acanthopterygii) (Fossil Vertebrates of Russia and Adjacent Countries. Fossil Acanthopterygian Fishes: Teleostei, Acanthopterygii), Moscow: GEOS, 2010.
Bannikov, A.F., The fauna of fishes from the Bartonian (middle Eocene) of Northern Caucasus (Pshekha River), Integrativnaya paleontologiya: perspektivy razvitiya dlya geologicheskikh tselei. Mater. 63 sess. Paleontol. ob-va (S.-Peterburg, 3–7 aprelya 2017 g.) (Integrative Paleontology: Prospective Geological Applications. Proc. 63rd Sess. Paleontol. Soc.: St. Petersburg, April 3–7, 2017), St. Petersburg: Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Geol. Inst., 2017, pp. 168–170.
Bannikov, A.F., The fauna of bony fishes from the Bartonian (uppermost middle Eocene) of Northern Caucasus (Pshekha River), Trudy Paleontolgicheskogo Obeshchestva. Tom 1, (Proceedings of Paleontological Society: Volume 1), Rozhnov, S.V., Ed., 2018, Moscow: Paleontol. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, pp. 7–14.
Casier, E., Le squelette céphalique de Eochelone brabantica L. Dollo, du Bruxellien (Lutétien inférieur) de Belgique, et sa comparaison avec celui de Chelone mydas Linné, Bull. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg., 1968, no. 44, pp. 1–22.
Danilov, I.G., Syromyatnikova, E.V., and Sukhanov, V.B., Subclass Testudinata, Iskopaemye pozvonochnye Rossii i sopredel’nykh stran. Iskopaemye reptilii i ptitsy. Chast’ 4 (Fossil Vertebrates of Russia and Adjacent Countries. Fossil Reptiles and Birds. Part 4), Lopatin, A.V.and Zelenkov, N.V., Eds., Moscow: GEOS, 2017, pp. 27–395.
Gaffney, E.S., Comparative cranial morphology of recent and fossil turtles, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 1979, vol. 164, pp. 65–376.
Grant-Mackie, J.A., Hill, J., and Gill, B.J., Two Eocene chelonioid turtles from Northland, New Zealand, New Zeal. J. Geol. Geophys., 2011, no. 54, pp. 181–194.
Hirayama Ren, Oldest known sea turtle, Nature, 1998, vol. 392, no. 6677, pp. 705–708.
Karhu, A., A new genus and species of the family Jungornithidae (Apodiformes) from the Late Eocene of the Northern Caucasus, with comments on the ancestry of hummingbirds, Smithson. Contrib. Paleobiol., 1999, no. 89, pp. 207–216.
Karl, H.-V., Groning, E., and Brauckmann, C., New materials of the giant sea turtle Allopleuron (Testudines: Chelonioidea) from the marine Late Cretaceous of Central Europe and the Palaeogene of Kazakhstan, Studia Geol. Salmanticensia, 2012, vol. espec., no. 9, pp. 153–173.
Lapparent de Broin, F. de, Murelaga, X., Farrés, F., and Altimiras, J., An exceptional cheloniid turtle, Osonachelus decorata nov. gen., nov. sp., from the Eocene (Bartonian) of Catalonia (Spain), Geobios, 2014, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 111–132.
Lapparent de Broin, F. de, Murelaga, X., Pérez-García, A., Farrés, F., and Altimiras, J. The turtles from the upper Eocene, Osona County (Ebro Basin, Catalonia, Spain): new material and its faunistic and environmental context, Fossil Rec., 2018, no. 21, pp. 237–284.
Malyshkina, T.P., Gonzáles Barba, G., and Bannikov, A.F., Records of elasmobranchian teeth in the Bartonian of the Northern Caucasus (Russia) and Crimea (Ukraine), Paleontol. J., 2013, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 98–103.
Meulenkamp, J.E., Sissingh, W., Calvo, P., et al., Late Lutetian (44–41 Ma), Atlas Peri-Tethys, Palaeogeographical Maps, Dercourt, J., Gaetani, M., Vrielynck. B., et al., Eds., Paris: CCGM/CGMW, 2000, pp. 163–170.
Moody, R.T.J., The taxonomy and morphology of Puppigerus camperi (Gray), an Eocene sea turtle from northern Europe, Bull. Brit. Mus. (Natur. Hist.) Geol., 1974, vol. 25, pp. 153–186.
Moody, R.T.J., Notes on some European Palaeogene turtles, Tert. Res., 1980, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 161–168.
Owen, R. and Bell, A., Reptilia of the Tertiary Beds. Part 1. Chelonia, Monography of the Fossil Reptilia of the London Clay, London: Palaeontogr. Soc., 1849, pp. 1–76.
Tong, H. and Hirayama, R., A new species of Argillochelys (Testudines: Cryptodira: Cheloniidae) from the Ouled Abdoun phosphate basin, Morocco, Bull. Soc. Géol. Fr., 2008, vol. 179, no. 6, pp. 623–630.
Tong, H., Hirayama, R., and Tabouelle, J., Puppigerus camperi (Testudines: Cryptodira: Cheloniidae) from the Ypresian (Early Eocene) of Ouled Abdoun basin, Morocco, Bull. Soc. Géol. Fr., 2012, vol. 183, no. 6, pp. 635–640.
Weems, R., and Brown, K.M., More-complete remains of Procolpochelys charlestonensis (Oligocene, South Carolina), an occurrence of Euclastes (upper Eocene, South Carolina), and their bearing on Cenozoic pancheloniid sea turtle distribution and phylogeny, J. Paleontol., 2017, vol. 91, no. 6, pp. 1228–1243.
Zangerl, R., Two toxochelyid sea turtles from the Landenian sands of Erquelinnes (Hainaut) of Belgium, Mém. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg., 1971, no. 169, pp. 1–32.
Zangerl, R., Hendrickson, L.P., and Hendrickson, J.R., A Redescription of the Australian Flatback Sea Turtle Natator depressus, Bishop Mus. Bull. Zool., no. 1, Honolulu: Bishop Mus. Press, 1988.
Zvonok, E.A., The structure of the skull of Puppigerus nessovi Averianov, 2005 (Reptilia, Testudines, Cheloniidae sensu lato) from the middle Eocene deposits of Ukraine, Geol. Zh., 2013, no. 1, pp. 57–67.
Zvonok, E.A. and Danilov, I.G., A revision of fossil turtles from the Kiev Clays (Ukraine, Middle Eocene) with comments on the history of the collection of fossil vertebrates of A.S. Rogovich, Proc. Zool. Inst. RAS, 2017, vol. 321, no. 4, pp. 485–516.
Zvonok, E.A. and Danilov, I.G., Paleogene turtles of Crimea, Paleontol. J., 2019, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 62–73.
Zvonok, E.A., Danilov, I.G., Syromyatnikova, E.V. et al., Preliminary results of the study of turtles from the Paleogene of Mangyshlak (Kazakhstan), Sovremennaya paleontologiya: klassicheskie i noveishie metody. 14 vseross. nauchn. shkola molodykh uchenykh-paleontologov 2–4 oktyabrya 2017 g. (Modern Paleontology: Classical and Newest Methods: 14th All-Russ. Sci. School for Young Sci. in Paleontol., October 2–4, 2017), Moscow: Paleontol. Inst. Ross. Acad. Nauk, 2017, pp. 20–21.
Zvonok, E.A., Danilov, I.G., Syromyatnikova, E.V., and Udovichenko, N.I., Remains of sea turtles from the Ikovo locality (Lugansk Region, Ukraine; Middle Eocene), Paleontol. J., 2013, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 607–617.
Zvonok, E.A., Udovichenko, N.I., and Bratishko, A.V., New data on the morphology and the systematic position of the sea turtle Allopleuron qazaqstanense Karl et al. from the Middle Eocene of Kazakhstan, Paleontol. J., 2015, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 176–189.
Zug, G.R., Wynn, A.H., and Ruckdeschel, C., Age Determination of Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Caretta caretta, by Incremental Growth Marks in the Skeleton, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., no. 427, City of Washington: Smithson. Inst. Press, 1986.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank H.-V. Karl (Göttingen University, Germany) for providing the photos of the holotype of “Allopleuron” qazaqstanense, R. Hirayama (Waseda University, Tokyo) for the photos of the specimens of Argillochelys spp., and A.O. Averianov for valuable comments that helped improve the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Translated by D. Ponomarenko
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zvonok, E.A., Syromyatnikova, E.V., Danilov, I.G. et al. A Sea Turtle (Cheloniidae) from the Middle Eocene of North Caucasus. Paleontol. J. 53, 530–539 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030119050137
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030119050137