Elochelys Explained

Elochelys ("swamp turtle") is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of Fuveau Basin, France.^[1] The genus consists solely of type species E. perfecta,^{[2] [3]} though a second species (E. covenarum) was reassigned to the genus Iberoccitanemys.

Discovery

Elochelys was discovered in the Fuveau region of France, and is known from exclusively from a shell. The holotype was described by Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás in 1931.^[2] A second species was described by Laurent, Yong and Claude, 2002.^[4] but was subsequently reassigned to a new genus, Iberoccitanemys.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Gaffney, E.S., Tong, H., Meylan, P.A., 2006. Evolution of the side-necked turtles: the families Bothremydidae, Euraxemydidae, and Araripemydidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 300, 1–700.
2. Nopcsa, F., 1931. Sur des nouveaux restes de Tortues du Danien du Midi de la France. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 1, 223–236.
3. Web site: Fossilworks: Arenila. 17 December 2021. fossilworks.org.
4. Laurent, Y., Tong, H., Claude, J., 2002. New side-necked turtle (Pleurodira: Bothremydidae) from the Upper Maastrichtian of the Petites-Pyréneés (Haute-Garonne, France). Cretaceous Research 23, 465–471.