Systematics and diversity of the giant soft-shelled turtles (Cryptodira,Trionychidae) from the earliest Eocene of Belgium |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Grupo de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, UNED, Paseo Senda del Rey 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain;2. Directorate Earth & History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium;1. Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier, Université Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Cc 064, place Eugène-Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France;2. Association Paléontologique du Sud-Ouest (APSO), 13, chemin des Telles, 31360 Roquefort-sur-Garonne, France;3. Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse, 35, allées Jules-Guesde, 31000 Toulouse, France;4. 103, avenue F. Mitterand, 31800 St. Gaudens, France;1. Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Geoscience, Sigwartstr. 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany;2. Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment (HEP Tübingen), Sigwartstr. 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany;1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geoambientali, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy;2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Italy;3. SIMA (Sistema Museale di Ateneo), Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy;4. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Italy;1. Mace Brown Museum of Natural History, College of Charleston, SC, USA;2. Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, College of Charleston, SC, USA;3. University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA;1. Departamento de Ciências da Terra, FCT-UNL Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, GeoBioTec, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal;2. Dr. Abu Bakr Fossil Display & Research Centre, Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Punjab 54590, Pakistan;3. Department of Anatomy, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, 8000 Northern Boulevard, Old Westbury, NY 11568, USA;4. Department of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA;1. Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab., 7–9, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russian Federation;2. Department of Geography, Lugansk State Pedagogical University, Oboronnaya str., 2, Lugansk 91011, Ukraine |
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| Abstract: | In 1909, the famous paleontologist Louis Dollo identified two putative new species of giant soft-shelled turtles from the lowest Eocene record of Belgium, ‘Trionyx erquelinnensis’ and ‘Trionyx levalensis’, from Erquelinnes and Leval, respectively. However, these proposals did not meet the requirements of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, so they were considered as nomina nuda. The information on these specimens or about any other specimen of this lineage of giant turtles from the Belgian record is currently extremely limited. Relatively scarce material from giant trionychids has been described for the lower Eocene record of other European regions. Considering the available information, all the European material has recently been recognized as belonging to the genus Axestemys, which has a North American origin, and possibly attributable to a single species, Axestemys vittata, which currently lacks a diagnosis. Numerous and well-preserved Belgian specimens are deposited in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. In addition to the cited individuals from Erquelinnes and Leval, additional specimens from both localities, as well as others from Orp-le-Grand, are part of this collection. These specimens, found between the decades of 1910 and 1930, have been recently restored, and their study is carried out here. The presence of Axestemys vittata in Belgium (in Leval and Orp-le-Grand) is confirmed. Knowledge about this species is significantly improved, and a diagnosis is proposed. However, the hypothesis proposed by Dollo is here confirmed, this species being not the only identified in the Belgian record. So, Axestemys erquelinnensis nov. sp. is defined based on the carapace from Erquelinnes known by Dollo, suggesting that the genus probably reached Europe during the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum. |
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| Keywords: | Trionychid Ypresian Paleogene Europe Diversity |
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