Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/united-states

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Euclastes

Extinct genus of turtles

Euclastes
Summary

Extinct genus of turtles

~

  • †E. montenati De Lapparent de Broin, 2025
  • †E. platyops Cope, 1867
  • †E. wielandi (Hay, 1908)
  • Glossochelys? Seeley 1871
  • Rhetechelys Hay, 1908
  • Osteopygoides Karl et al., 1998
  • Catapleura Cope, 1870

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, while E. coahuilaensis named in 2009 was reassigned as Mexichelys coahuilaensis in 2010.

Description

''E. platyops'' skull

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. 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 Jalil et al., 2009
  • †E. montenati De Lapparent de Broin, 2025
  • †E. platyops Cope, 1867
  • †E. wielandi (Hay, 1908)

Phylogeny

Cladogram based on Lynch and Parham (2003)

Distribution

Fossils of Euclastes have been found in:

;Maastrichtian

  • Bentiaba, Angola
  • Quiriquina Formation, Chile
  • Hornerstown and Navesink Formations, New Jersey

;Paleocene

  • Jagüel and Roca Formations, Argentina
  • Bracheux Formation, France
  • Aquia and Brightseat Formations, Maryland
  • Sidi Chennane and Couche 2 Formation, Morocco

;Eocene

  • Parkers Ferry Formation, South Carolina

References

References

  1. (March 2010). "New sea turtle from the Miocene of Peru and the iterative evolution of feeding ecomorphologies since the Cretaceous". Journal of Paleontology.
  2. (2021). "''Catapleura'' Cope, 1870 is ''Euclastes'' Cope, 1867 (Testudines: Pan-Cheloniidae): synonymy revealed by a new specimen from New Jersey". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
  3. Lynch, S.C.. (September 2017). ["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"](http://www.seaturtle.org/PDF/Lynch_2003_PaleoBios.pdf }}{{dead link). PaleoBios.
  4. [https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=165647 Euclastes coahuilaensis] from the Paleobiology Database
  5. [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]
  6. (December 2009). "The Oldest African Eucryptodiran Turtle from the Cretaceous of Angola". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
  7. James F. Parham. (2010). "New Sea Turtle from the Miocene of Peru and the Iterative Evolution of Feeding Ecomorphologies since the Cretaceous". Journal of Paleontology.
  8. [https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=67331 ''Euclastes''] at [[Fossilworks]].org
  9. Mateus, 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
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

chelonioidea prehistoric-turtle-genera cretaceous–paleogene-boundary maastrichtian-genus-first-appearances eocene-genus-extinctions cretaceous-turtles paleocene-turtles eocene-turtles late-cretaceous-reptiles-of-africa fossils-of-angola late-cretaceous-reptiles-of-north-america cretaceous-united-states fossils-of-the-united-states late-cretaceous-reptiles-of-south-america cretaceous-chile fossils-of-chile paleogene-reptiles-of-africa fossils-of-morocco paleogene-reptiles-of-north-america paleogene-united-states paleogene-reptiles-of-south-america paleogene-argentina fossils-of-argentina fossil-taxa-described-in-1867 taxa-named-by-edward-drinker-cope
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Euclastes — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report