Pacifichelys
Name:
Pacifichelys
(Pacific shell).
Phonetic: Pah-sif-ik-chel-iss.
Named By: J. F. Parham & N. D.
Pyenson - 2010.
Synonyms: Euclastes hutchisoni.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Testudines,
Cryptodira, Chelonioidea.
Species: P. urbinai
(type), P. hutchisoni.
Diet: Durophagous.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Peru -Pisco Formation. USA,
California - Temblor Formation.
Time period: Langhian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of at least
two individuals.
Pacifichelys is a genus of sea turtle that lived along the coastlines of Peru and California during the mid Miocene. The morphology of the skull suggests that Pacifichelys fed upon hard shelled organisms such as shelled molluscs and crustaceans. A former species of Euclastes, E. hutchisoni, has now been renamed as a species of Pacifichelys.
Further reading
- The first report of hard-shelled sea turtles (Cheloniidae sensu
lato) from the Miocene of California, including a new species
(Euclastes hutchisoni) with unusually
plesiomorphic characters. -
PaleoBios 23(3):21-35. - S. C. Lynch & J.
F. Parham - 2003.
- New sea turtle from the Miocene of Peru and iterative evolution of
feeding ecomorphologies since the Cretaceous. - Journal of
Paleontology 84(2):231-247. - J. F. Parham &
N. D. Pyenson - 2010.
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