Euclastes

{{Short description|Extinct genus of turtles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Maastrichtian-Late Eocene
~{{fossil range|70|34}}

| image = Euclastes sp.jpg

| image_caption = Euclastes sp. skeleton

| taxon = Euclastes

| authority = Cope, 1867

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision_ref = {{Cite journal|last1=Parham|first1=James F.|last2=Pyenson|first2=Nicholas D.|date=March 2010|title=New sea turtle from the Miocene of Peru and the iterative evolution of feeding ecomorphologies since the Cretaceous|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250071067|journal=Journal of Paleontology|language=en|volume=84|issue=2|pages=231–247|doi=10.1666/09-077R.1|bibcode=2010JPal...84..231P |s2cid=62811400|issn=0022-3360}}

| subdivision = * †E. acutirostris {{small|Jalil et al., 2009}}

  • E. platyops {{small|Cope, 1867}}
  • E. wielandi {{small|(Hay, 1908)}}

| synonyms =

  • Glossochelys? {{small|Seeley 1871}}
  • Rhetechelys {{small|Hay, 1908}}
  • Osteopygoides {{small|Karl et al., 1998}}
  • Catapleura {{small|Cope, 1870}}{{Cite journal|last1=Ullmann |first1=S. G. |last2=Carr |first2=E. |year=2021 |title=Catapleura Cope, 1870 is Euclastes Cope, 1867 (Testudines: Pan-Cheloniidae): synonymy revealed by a new specimen from New Jersey |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=19 |issue=7 |pages=491–517 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2021.1928306 |bibcode=2021JSPal..19..491U |s2cid=236504236 }}

}}

Euclastes is an extinct genus of sea turtles that survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction. The genus was first named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1867, and contains three species. E. hutchisoni, was named in 2003 but has since been reassigned to the genus Pacifichelys,{{cite journal |last=Lynch |first=S.C. |author2=Parham, J.F. |year=2003 |title=The first report of hard-shelled sea turtles (Cheloniidae sensu lato) from the Miocene of California, including a new species (Euclastes hutchisoni) with unusually plesiomorphic characters |journal=PaleoBios |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=21–35 |url=http://www.seaturtle.org/PDF/Lynch_2003_PaleoBios.pdf }}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} while E. coahuilaensis named in 2009 was reassigned as Mexichelys coahuilaensis in 2010.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=165647 Euclastes coahuilaensis] from the Paleobiology Database[http://noticias.terra.com.br/ciencia/interna/0,,OI3618441-EI238,00-Exibidos+fosseis+de+tartarugas+com+mi+de+anos.html Exibidos fósseis de tartarugas com 72 mi de anos]

Description

File:Euclastes.jpg

Unlike the sea turtles Toxochelys and Eochelone, Euclastes has a secondary palate. However, the secondary palate of Euclastes is not as extensive as it is in Ctenochelys and Angolachelys.{{cite journal |last1=Mateus |first1=Octávio |last2=Jacobs |first2=Louis |last3=Polcyn |first3=Michael |last4=Schulp |first4=Anne S. |last5=Vineyard |first5=Diana |last6=Buta Neto |first6=André |last7=Telles Antunes |first7=Miguel |title=The Oldest African Eucryptodiran Turtle from the Cretaceous of Angola |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |date=December 2009 |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=581–588 |doi=10.4202/app.2008.0063|doi-access=free }} The genus can be distinguished by later sea turtles based on its broad, low skull; broad, flat palate; wide, flat dentary bone with an elongated symphysis; and low tomial ridge on the beak. The widened palate and dentaries give Eochelone wide, flat jaws suitable for crushing hard-shelled organisms.

Classification

= Species =

  • E. acutirostris {{small|Jalil et al., 2009}}
  • E. platyops {{small|Cope, 1867}}
  • E. wielandi {{small|(Hay, 1908)}}

= Phylogeny =

Cladogram based on Lynch and Parham (2003) and Parham and Pyenson (2010):{{Cite journal|author2-link=Nicholas Pyenson|author=James F. Parham|author2=Nicholas D. Pyenson|year=2010|title=New Sea Turtle from the Miocene of Peru and the Iterative Evolution of Feeding Ecomorphologies since the Cretaceous|journal=Journal of Paleontology|volume=84|issue=2|pages=231–247|doi=10.1666/09-077R.1|bibcode=2010JPal...84..231P |s2cid=62811400}}

{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:85%

|label1=Cheloniidae sensu lato

|1={{clade

|1=Toxochelys

|2={{clade

|1=Mexichelys

|2={{clade

|1=Lophochleyinae

|2={{clade

|1=Euclastes

|2={{clade

|1=Argillochelys

|2=Eochelone

|3={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Erquelinnesla

|2=Pacifichelys}}

|2={{clade

|1=Puppigerus

|2=Cheloniidae sensu stricto

}} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

Distribution

Fossils of Euclastes have been found in:[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=67331 Euclastes] at Fossilworks.org

;Maastrichtian

  • Bentiaba, AngolaMateus, O., M. J. Polcyn, L. L. Jacobs, R. Arujo, A. S. Schulp, J. Marinheiro, B. Pereira and D. Vineyard. 2012. Cretaceous amniotes from Angola: dinosaurs, pterosaurs, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, turtles. Actas de V Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontologia de Dinosaurios y su Entorno, Salas de los Infantes, Burgos 71-105
  • Quiriquina Formation, Chile
  • Hornerstown and Navesink Formations, New Jersey

;Paleocene

;Eocene

References

{{Reflist}}