Alienochelys

{{Short description|Extinct genus of turtles}}{{Automatic taxobox

|fossil_range = Late Cretaceous, {{Fossil range|70|66}}

|image = Alienochelys skull.jpg

|image_caption = Skull of specimen.

|taxon = Alienochelys

|authority = de Lapparent de Broin, 2014

|type_species = {{extinct}}Alienochelys selloumi

|type_species_authority = de Lapparent de Broin, 2014

}}

File:Ouled Abdoun Basin.png of Alienochelys (middle right) and other animals of the Ouled Abdoun Basin]]

Alienochelys ("strange turtle") is an extinct genus of marine turtle known from Maastrichian-aged Cretaceous phosphates in Morocco.{{Cite web|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=286868|title=Fossilworks: Alienochelys|website=fossilworks.org|access-date=17 December 2021}} With a skull measuring {{convert|41.5|cm|ft}} long, it would have been a very large turtle. It was first described as a member of the family Dermochelyidae, meaning that it is a relative of the modern leatherback turtle,{{Cite journal |last=de Lapparent de Broin |first=France |last2=Bardet |first2=Nathalie |last3=Amaghzaz |first3=Mbarek |last4=Meslouh |first4=Saïd |date=2014 |title=A strange new chelonioid turtle from the Latest Cretaceous Phosphates of Morocco |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1631068313001474 |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=87–95 |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2013.07.008|url-access=subscription }} though a 2018 study identifies it as a sister taxon of Ocepechelon belonging to the family Protostegidae, indicating that it may have been closer to the extinct Archelon.{{cite journal|first1=I.|last1=Scavezzoni|first2=V.|last2=Fischer|year=2018|title=Rhinochelys amaberti Moret (1935), a Protostegid Turtle from the Early Cretaceous of France|journal=PeerJ|volume=10|issue=6|page=e4594|doi=10.7717/peerj.4594|pmc=5898427|pmid=29666758 |doi-access=free }} Unlike other sea turtles, Alienochelys' the jaws being adapted for a powerful crushing pattern well adapted for a durophagous lifestyle, as well as its unusual cranial characteristics.{{cite journal|first1=S.L.A.|last1=Cooper|first2=K.J.|last2=Marson|first3=R.E.|last3=Smith|first4=D.|last4=Martill|year=2022|title=Contrasting preservation in pycnodont fishes reveals first record of regurgitalites from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Moroccan phosphate deposits|journal=Cretaceous Research|volume=131|issue=4|at=105111|doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105111}}