Data from: New remains of the aquatic turtle Hydromedusa casamayorensis (Pleurodira, Chelidae) from the middle Eocene of Patagonia: taxonomic validation and phylogenetic relationships
Data files
Apr 23, 2019 version files 2.50 MB
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Appendix S1.pdf
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Appendix S3 (2).rar
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Appendix S4.pdf
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Appendix S5.pdf
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Appendix S6.pdf
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Jun 29, 2018 version files 2.55 MB
Abstract
Twenty- seven new specimens recovered from lower levels of the Sarmiento Formation (Casamayoran SALMA, middle Eocene) in the ¨Cañadón Hondo¨ area, Chubut (Argentina), bring new information on the Palaeogene long-necked chelid Hydromedusa casamayorensis.The discovery of cranial and postcranial remains allows a complete description of the only known extinct species of the genus Hydromedusa recognizing diagnostic characters that revalidate the taxonomic status of this species. Hydromedusa casamayorensis is incorporated into a cladistic framework of chelid turtles. The unconstrained and constrained phylogenetic analyses recovered H. casamayorensis as a sister taxon of Hydromedusa maximiliani plus H. tectifera. A Danian age is proposed at least for the origin of the Hydromedusa clade, while a Late Cretaceous is suggested for the age of the split from the Yaminuechelys clade. Great differences in size are documented for H. casamayorensis based on the various specimens recovered from this study. The osteohistological study in H. casamayorensis and H. tectifera shows similarities in the internal cortex and cancellous bone of both taxa, but some differences are observed in the external cortex of H. casamayorensis (e.g. a parallel fibered bone on the more external surface of this cortex).