Allaeochelys
Allaeochelys | ||||||||||||
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Allaeochelys crassesculptata in the Freiburg Nature Museum |
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Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
Eocene | ||||||||||||
55.8 to 33.9 million years | ||||||||||||
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Allaeochelys | ||||||||||||
Noulet , 1867 |
Allaeochelys is an extinct genus of tortoises from the Eocene (55.8 million to 33.9 million years ago).
Your closest relative living today is the Papuan softshell turtle ( Carettochelys insculpta ). Allaeochelys is considered to be the link between the hard-shelled turtles and the softshell turtles (Trionychoidea). These turtles moved in the water with the help of their paddle-shaped fins.
From the fossil deposit Messel Pit near Darmstadt excellently preserved originate fossils of the kind allaeochelys crassesculptata . These specimens are characterized by the fact that the stomach contents are still preserved and so the components of the last “meal” of the turtle in question can be examined.
In June 2012 a fossil slate was found showing two specimens of the species Allaeochelys crassesculptata mating. Dated to be 48 million years old, this is the oldest fossil of vertebrate intercourse.
species
- Allaeochelys carasecai
- Allaeochelys crassesculptata
Individual evidence
- ^ Walter G. Joyce, Norbert Micklich, Stephan FK Schaal, Torsten M. Scheyer: Caught in the act: the first record of copulating fossil vertebrates. In: Biology Letters. Vol. 8, No. 5, 2012, ISSN 1744-9561 , pp. 846-848, doi : 10.1098 / rsbl.2012.0361 .