Redescription of Zangerlia dzamynchondi (Testudines: Nanhsiungchelyidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia, with a Reassessment of the Phylogenetic Position and Relationships of Zangerlia

Abstract

In this chapter we redescribe Zangerlia dzamynchondi Sukhanov and Narmandakh 2006, a poorly described nanhsiungchelyid turtle from the Djadokhta Formation (Late Cretaceous, Campanian), Zamin Khond locality, southern Mongolia. We also present new observations on the holotype of Z. testudinimorpha, the type of the genus Zangerlia, and reassess some characters of this genus. Inclusion of these new data in a phylogenetic analyses of Adocusia (the clade uniting Adocidae and Nanhsiungchelyidae) allows us to reassess the phylogenetic position and relationships of Zangerlia. Our phylogenetic analysis does not support a monophyletic Zangerlia. All species of “Zangerlia” form a polytomy with Hanbogdemys orientalis, Anomalochelys angulata + Nanhsiungchelys wuchingensis, and Basilemys.