Pleurosternidae

Pleurosternids
Temporal range: Kimmeridgian–Albian
Pleurosternon skull
Pleurosternon shell
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Pantestudines
Clade: Testudinata
Clade: Paracryptodira
Superfamily: Baenoidea
Family: Pleurosternidae
Cope, 1868

Pleurosternidae is an extinct family of freshwater turtles belonging to Paracryptodira.[1] They are definitively known from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Western Europe and North America.[2]

Genera

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Valid taxa

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Uluops from the Late Jurassic of North America may also belong to Pleurosternidae.[2]

Invalid taxa

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  • Desmemys[3] Bückeberg Formation, Germany, Berriasian (nomen dubium)

Ecology

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The high morphological diversity of skulls of the group suggests high ecological plasticity. Glyptops and Pleurosternon exhibit adaptions likely for suction feeding, while Dorsteochelys was likely a dietary generalist.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Pleurosternidae". Fossilworks. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Joyce, Walter G.; Anquetin, Jérémy (October 2019). "A Review of the Fossil Record of Nonbaenid Turtles of the Clade Paracryptodira". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 60 (2): 129–155. doi:10.3374/014.060.0204. ISSN 0079-032X.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Pleurosternidae". Fossilworks. Retrieved October 18, 2019.