A new Cretaceous Pleurodira Pelomedusoides from the Lower Cretaceous of Parnaíba Basin, Brazil

Abstract

The new Pleurodira turtle Itapecuruemys amazonensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Itapecuru Formation (Parnaíba Basin, Brazil) is described. The new species is represented only by its holotype, which consists of an almost complete carapace and plastron, with an oval-shaped outline. The most peculiar characters of Itapecuruemys amazonensis are: neural plates six and seven are separated by costal six, and the seventh neural plate contacts the sixth, seventh and eighth costal plates and a suprapygal. The phylogenetic hypothesis proposed in this paper suggests that Itapecuruemys amazonensis, together with Cearachelys and Galianemys spp., form a monophyletic assemblage and also widen the paleoherpetological diversity of the Itapecuru Formation in the Parnaíba Basin (Brazil).