Presence of several clades of continental turtles in the Lutetian (Middle Eocene) of the Sobrarbe Formation (Ainsa Basin, South-Central Pyrenees, Northeast Spain)
Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, José Antonio Novais 2, 28040 Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain. E-mail: paleontologo@gmail.com
Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. E-mail: xabier.murelaga@ehu.es
Museo Paleontológico de Sobrarbe, Lamata, Huesca, Spain. E-mail: museolamata@yahoo.es
Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. E-mail: ainara.badiola@ehu.es
Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra (Área de Paleontología), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain. E-mail: geo_edb_85@yahoo.es
Abstract
The presence of continental turtles in the Ainsa Basin (south-central Pyrenees, northeast Spain) is reported here for the first time. These specimens come from the middle-late Lutetian of the Sobrarbe Fm. Four clades are identified there. One of them corresponds to a member of Pleurodira, identified as Neochelys cf. salmanticensis. The others are cryptodiran turtles, recognized as an indeterminate member of Testudinidae, and two soft-shelled turtles: the carettochelyid Allaeochelys sp. and the trionychid Trionyx sp. This association of turtles is the most diverse identified in the Lutetian of the Iberian Peninsula. The identification of a member of Testudinidae corresponds to the oldest Iberian record of this clade. This turtle fauna is more similar to that present in the Iberian Duero Basin than in any other European region.