Angolachelys
Name:
Angolachelys
(Angola turtle).
Phonetic: An-goe-lah-chel-iss.
Named By: Octavio Mateus, Luis Jacons, Michael
Polcyn, Anne S. Schulp, Diana Vineyard, Andre Buta Neto
& Miguel Telles Antunes - 2009.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Eucryptodira.
Species: A. mbaxi (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains. Skull of
holotype is 179 millimetres long.
Known locations: Angola - Itombe Formation.
Time period: Turonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skull and
partial post cranial remains (MGUAN-PA 002).
At
the time of its description, Angolachelys
represents the oldest known
genus of eucryptodire from Africa. Angolachelys
means ‘Angola
turtle’ after the country where it was discovered. The type
species name A. mbaxi is derived from the word
Mbaxi which means
turtle in the Angolan Nyaneka−Nkumbi and Kimbundo languages
Angolachelys
was found in the Itombe Formation which is noted for the large number
of marine organisms that were fossilised there. These include
ammonites, fish (including sharks),
plesiosaurs
and mosasaurs
including the genus Angolasaurus.
Also of interest is that the
holotype fossils of the dinosaur Angolatitan,
the first to be
discovered in Angola, were recovered from this formation.
Further reading
- The oldest African eucryptodiran turtle from the Cretaceous of
Angola - Octavio Mateus, Luis Jacons, Michael Polcyn, Anne
S. Schulp, Diana Vineyard, Andre Buta Neto & Miguel
Telles Antunes - 2009.
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