Toxochelys

Toxochelys
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
Fossil specimen, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Clade: Americhelydia
Clade: Panchelonioidea
Genus: Toxochelys
Cope, 1873
Species
  • T. bauri
  • T. browni
  • T. latiremus
  • T. weeksi
Toxochelys bauri skeletons

Toxochelys (TOKS uh KEE leez[1]) is an extinct genus of marine turtle from the Cretaceous period. It is the most commonly found fossilized turtle species in the Smoky Hill Chalk, in western Kansas.[2] Toxochelys was about 2 m (6 ft) in length. There are five known species in the genus: Toxocheys bauri, Toxochelys browni, Toxochelys latiremus, Toxochelys weeks, and Toxochelys moorevillensis.[3] Phylogenetic analysis shows that Toxochelys belong to an extinct lineage of turtles transitional between modern sea turtles and other turtles.[4]

References

  1. www.nhm.org Retrieved on May 12, 2008.
  2. www.oceansofkansas.com Retrieved on May 12, 2008
  3. zipcodezoo.com Retrieved on May 12, 2008.
  4. Kear BP, Lee MS (March 2006). "A primitive protostegid from Australia and early sea turtle evolution". Biol. Lett. 2 (1): 116–9. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0406. PMC 1617175Freely accessible. PMID 17148342.


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