The fossil record of turtles and tortoises (Testudines) of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography: a bibliographic review

Testudines is the crown-group that includes all living forms of turtles and their closest relatives. This group is known from the late Triassic and persists to this day. The fossil record of Testudines in Mexico is scarce and has been previously compiled in several papers. Here we present an update...

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Main Authors: Gerardo Carbot-Chanona, Gustavo Rivera-Velázquez, Eduardo Jiménez-Hidalgo, Víctor Hugo Reynoso
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2020-11-01
Series:Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas
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Online Access:https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/1581
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author Gerardo Carbot-Chanona
Gustavo Rivera-Velázquez
Eduardo Jiménez-Hidalgo
Víctor Hugo Reynoso
author_facet Gerardo Carbot-Chanona
Gustavo Rivera-Velázquez
Eduardo Jiménez-Hidalgo
Víctor Hugo Reynoso
author_sort Gerardo Carbot-Chanona
collection DOAJ
description Testudines is the crown-group that includes all living forms of turtles and their closest relatives. This group is known from the late Triassic and persists to this day. The fossil record of Testudines in Mexico is scarce and has been previously compiled in several papers. Here we present an update including all osteological and ichnological records from México and Central America. In Mexico, the Testudines fossil record extends from the Late Triassic to the Pleistocene, being widely abundant during the Pleistocene. Kinosternon and Gopherus are the best represented taxa, known from the late Miocene (Hemphillian) to the late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean). Fossil turtles are well represented in Mexico, excluding the states of Campeche, Mexico City, Colima, Guerrero, Queretaro, Quintana Roo and Sinaloa. On the contrary, the ichnological records are only known in Coahuila, Puebla and Zacatecas. In Central America there are records of fossil turtles in El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama, the latter being the country holding most records. Finally, nine new species have been described in the region, six for Mexico (Notoemys tlaxiacoensis, Yelmochelys rosarioae, Mexichelys coahuilaensis, Gopherus donlaloi, G. auffenbergi and G. pargensis, of which G. auffenbergi is synonymous with G. berlandieri and G. pargensis is considered a nomen vanum) and three in Central America (Rhinoclemmys nicoyama from Costa Rica, and Rhinoclemmys panamaensis and Staurotypus moschus from Panama).
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spelling doaj-art-08aad128e1c04b81ae4ec9bd1d403a8f2025-08-20T03:25:29ZengUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoRevista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas1026-87742007-29022020-11-0137310.22201/cgeo.20072902e.2020.3.1581The fossil record of turtles and tortoises (Testudines) of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography: a bibliographic reviewGerardo Carbot-Chanona0Gustavo Rivera-Velázquez1Eduardo Jiménez-Hidalgo2Víctor Hugo Reynoso3Museo de Paleontología “Eliseo Palacios Aguilera”, Departamento de Paleontología, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente e Historia Natural. Calzada de Las Personas Ilustres, s/n, C.P. 29000, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico. Doctorado en Ciencias en Biodiversidad y Conservación de Ecosistemas Tropicales, Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, Libramiento Norte Poniente 1150, Colonia Lajas Maciel, C.P. 29039, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico.Laboratorio de Acuacultura y Evaluación Pesquera, Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas. Libramiento Norte Poniente 1150, Colonia Lajas Maciel, C.P. 29039, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico.Laboratorio de Paleobiología, Instituto de Recursos, Campus Puerto Escondido, Universidad del Mar, km 2.5 Carretera Puerto Escondido-Sola de Vega, C.P. 71980, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico.Colección Nacional de Anfibios y Reptiles, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, C.P.04510, Mexico. Testudines is the crown-group that includes all living forms of turtles and their closest relatives. This group is known from the late Triassic and persists to this day. The fossil record of Testudines in Mexico is scarce and has been previously compiled in several papers. Here we present an update including all osteological and ichnological records from México and Central America. In Mexico, the Testudines fossil record extends from the Late Triassic to the Pleistocene, being widely abundant during the Pleistocene. Kinosternon and Gopherus are the best represented taxa, known from the late Miocene (Hemphillian) to the late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean). Fossil turtles are well represented in Mexico, excluding the states of Campeche, Mexico City, Colima, Guerrero, Queretaro, Quintana Roo and Sinaloa. On the contrary, the ichnological records are only known in Coahuila, Puebla and Zacatecas. In Central America there are records of fossil turtles in El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama, the latter being the country holding most records. Finally, nine new species have been described in the region, six for Mexico (Notoemys tlaxiacoensis, Yelmochelys rosarioae, Mexichelys coahuilaensis, Gopherus donlaloi, G. auffenbergi and G. pargensis, of which G. auffenbergi is synonymous with G. berlandieri and G. pargensis is considered a nomen vanum) and three in Central America (Rhinoclemmys nicoyama from Costa Rica, and Rhinoclemmys panamaensis and Staurotypus moschus from Panama). https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/1581CryptodiraPleurodiraMesozoicPaleogeneNeogeneCenozoic
spellingShingle Gerardo Carbot-Chanona
Gustavo Rivera-Velázquez
Eduardo Jiménez-Hidalgo
Víctor Hugo Reynoso
The fossil record of turtles and tortoises (Testudines) of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography: a bibliographic review
Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas
Cryptodira
Pleurodira
Mesozoic
Paleogene
Neogene
Cenozoic
title The fossil record of turtles and tortoises (Testudines) of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography: a bibliographic review
title_full The fossil record of turtles and tortoises (Testudines) of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography: a bibliographic review
title_fullStr The fossil record of turtles and tortoises (Testudines) of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography: a bibliographic review
title_full_unstemmed The fossil record of turtles and tortoises (Testudines) of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography: a bibliographic review
title_short The fossil record of turtles and tortoises (Testudines) of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography: a bibliographic review
title_sort fossil record of turtles and tortoises testudines of mexico central america and the caribbean islands with comments on its taxonomy and paleobiogeography a bibliographic review
topic Cryptodira
Pleurodira
Mesozoic
Paleogene
Neogene
Cenozoic
url https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/1581
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