A new bothremydid turtle (Pleurodira) from the Olmos Formation (upper Campanian) of Coahuila, Mexico

Abstract

During the Late Cretaceous, pleurodiran turtles were taxonomically diverse and, inhabited a variety of environments, within a practically worldwide distribution. Among this group, the most widespread at that time was Bothremydidae, which was represented in North America by four taxa: Algorachelus tibert, Chedighaii hutchisoni, Chedighaii barberi, and Bothremys cooki. Nevertheless, the presence of Bothremydidae in Mexico is so far very scarce, and the few reports were recognized at indeterminate generic level and have, not been analyzed in detail. In this paper we describe the first Bothremydini from Mexico, collected in a coal mine in Coahuila in the Late Cretaceous of the Olmos Formation (upper Campanian). The coal mines in this region are known for their paleoflora, but this turtle specimen is the first vertebrate to be notified. This specimen displays a unique combination of characters that allows its attribution to a new representative, Palauchelys montellanoi gen. et sp. nov., thus expanding knowledge about the diversity of this group in the American Cretaceous record.