Corsochelys Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
| |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Superfamily: | Chelonioidea |
Family: | Dermochelyidae |
Genus: | †Corsochelys Zangerl, 1960 |
Type species | |
†C. halinches |
Corsochelys is an extinct genus of sea turtle that lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian). Zangerl (1960) named the type species (and currently only species; C. haliniches), based upon remains found in Alabama within the Mooreville Chalk Formation (the lower part of the Selma Group).[1]
Corsochelys is a basal dermochelyid.[1] As with other basal chelonioids (such as Santanachelys and Toxochelys), Corsochelys possesses a large foramen interorbitale with a narrow processus inferior parietalis, which indicates that the genus possessed salt-excreting lachrymal glands.[2] In addition to its similarly to these genera, Corsochelys retains a carapace with minimally reduced coastal plates.[3] Like the larger Archelon, Corsochelys had channels penetrating the subphyseal plate from bone into the cartilage above,[4] much like the living leatherback turtle. This means that Corsochelys would have reached their large size quickly through fast skeletal growth, as with the leatherback.[4]
Recently, a dermochelyid that closely resembles Corsochelys was found in the Maastrichtian deposits of the Ouled Abdoun phosphate basin, Morocco.[5]
Dermochelyidae family | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
Genera |
| |||
†Arabemys | ||||
†Corsochelys | ||||
†Cosmochelys | ||||
Dermochelys | ||||
†Eosphargis | ||||
†Mesodermochelys | ||||
†Psephophorus |
| |||
Phylogenetic arrangement of turtles based on turtles of the world 2017 update: Annotated checklist and atlas of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status. †=Extinct. |