Chelus

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = 2009 Chelus fimbriatus.JPG

| image_caption = Chelus fimbriatus

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range/linked|Miocene|recent|ref=}}

| taxon = Chelus

| authority = Duméril, 1805Duméril, A.M.C. 1805. Zoologie Analytique, ou Méthode Naturelle de Classification des Animaux. Paris: Perronneau, 344 pp.

}}

Chelus is a genus of large freshwater turtles found in tropical South America. Formerly considered to be a monotypic genus, it now consists of two extant species after Chelus orinocensis was identified in 2020 from a genetic analysis.{{Cite journal|last1=Sanchez-Vilaga|first1=Marcelo R.|last2=Prichard|first2=Peter C. H.|last3=Paolillo|first3=Alfredo|last4=Linares|first4=Omar J.|date=January 1995|title=Geographic variation in the matamata turtle, Chelus fimbriatus, with observations on its shell morphology and morphometry|url=https://chelonian.org/wp-content/uploads/file/CCB%20Vol%201%20No%204%20(1995)/Sanchez-Villagra_etal_1995.pdf |journal=Chelonian Conservation and Biology |volume=1 |pages=292–300}}

Evolution

Fossils of the extinct †C. colombianus have been found in Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil, including a skull dating to the early Miocene (~ 16 m.y.) of the Castilletes Formation, Cocinetas Basin, in Colombia. The fossil shows that the skull morphology of Chelus has been almost unchanged since the Miocene.{{Cite journal |last=Cadena |first=Ea |last2=Jaramillo |first2=Ca |date=2015 |title=The first fossil skull of Chelus (Pleurodira: Chelidae, Matamata turtle) from the early Miocene of Colombia |url=http://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2015/1245-chelus-fossil-skull |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |language=en |doi=10.26879/545 |issn=1094-8074|doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last=Ferreira |first=Gabriel S. |last2=Rincón |first2=Ascanio D. |last3=Solórzano |first3=Andrés |last4=Langer |first4=Max C. |date=April 2016 |title=Review of the fossil matamata turtles: earliest well-dated record and hypotheses on the origin of their present geographical distribution |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00114-016-1355-2 |journal=The Science of Nature |language=en |volume=103 |issue=3-4 |doi=10.1007/s00114-016-1355-2 |issn=0028-1042|url-access=subscription }}

Species

There are two extant recognized species in this genus and one extinct species:

Chelus fimbriatus – Amazon mata mata
Chelus orinocensis – Orinoco mata mata
†Chelus colombianus – Columbian mata mata (Early-Late Miocene){{cite journal| title=Two new species of Chelus (Testudines: Pleurodira) from the Late Tertiary of northern South America | journal=Breviora| volume=435 | year=1975 | last1=Wood | first1=Roger Conant | pages=1–26 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/32639 }}

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=37611 |title=Chelus Duméril 1806 |work=Paleobiology Database |access-date=16 April 2024}}

{{cite journal| title=Turtles of the world, 2021 update: Annotated checklist and atlas of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status (9th Ed.)| journal=Chelonian Research Monographs| volume=9 | year=2021 | last1=Rhodin | first1=Anders G.J. |last2=Inverson |first2=John B. |last3=Roger |first3=Bour |last4=Fritz |first4=Uwe |last5=Georges |first5=Arthur |last6=Shaffer |first6=H. Bradley |last7=van Dijk |first7=Peter Paul| collaboration=Turtle Taxonomy Working Group| series=Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group| edition=8| editor1=Rhodin A. G.J. |editor2=Iverson J.B. |editor3=van Dijk P.P. |editor4=Saumure R.A. |editor5=Buhlmann K.A. |editor6=Pritchard P.C.H. |editor6-link=Peter Pritchard |editor7=Mittermeier R.A. |editor7-link=Russell Mittermeier | pages=1–472| isbn=978-1-5323-5026-9| doi=10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021 |doi-access=free }}

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Category:Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril