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Science 12 May 1995:
Vol. 268. no. 5212, pp. 855 - 858
DOI: 10.1126/science.268.5212.855
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Articles

Late Triassic Turtles from South America

Guillermo W. Rougier 1, Marcelo S. de la Fuente 2, and Andrea B. Arcucci 3

1 Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA, and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas (CONICET), Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Avenida A. Gallardo 470, 1405 Buenos Aires, Argentina
2 CONICET, Facultad y Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata, Division de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Paseo del Bosque sin numero, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
3 Instituto de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de La Rioja, Avenida Ortíz de Ocampo 1700, 5300 La Rioja, Argentina

The discovery of Triassic (Norian) turtles from the northwest part of Argentina extends the South American record of turtles by 60 million years. Two skeletons, one almost complete, represent a new genus and species of a basal turtle, Palaeochersis talampayensis. This turtle is a member of the family Australochelidae that was recently erected for Australochelys africanus from the Lower Jurassic of South Africa. Here, it is proposed that Australochelidae is the sister group of Proterochersis plus Casichelydia, that turtles were diverse by the Late Triassic, and that Casichelydia probably originated during the Jurassic.

Submitted on January 24, 1995
Accepted on March 9, 1995


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