| Neochelys Temporal range: Early to Late Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N | |
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| N. franzeni specimens at the Senckenberg Museum | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Pleurodira |
| Family: | Podocnemididae |
| Subfamily: | Erymnochelyinae |
| Genus: | †Neochelys Bergounioux, 1954 |
| Type species | |
| †Emys capellinii de Zigno, 1890 | |
| Species | |
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See text | |
Neochelys (Greek for "new turtle") is an extinct genus of freshwater side-necked turtle that inhabited Europe during the Eocene. It was a diverse genus known throughout western and southern Europe from the Ypresian to the Priabonian.
Taxonomy
The following species are known:
- †N. arenarum de Broin, 1977 – early-mid Ypresian of France (Lignites de Soissonais)
- †N. capellinii (de Zigno, 1890) (type species) – latest Ypresian or earliest Lutetian of Italy (Monte Bolca) (=Emys capellinii)
- †N. eocaenica (de Stefano, 1902) – latest Ypresian or earliest Lutetian of France (Grès d'Aigne Formation)
- †N. franzeni Schleich, 1993 – early Lutetian of Germany (Messel Formation)
- †N. laurenti Tong, 1998 – mid-late Ypresian of France (Saint-Papoul Formation)
- †N. liriae Pérez-García & de Broin, 2013 – mid-late Ypresian of France (Grès d'Assignan Formation)
- †N. salmanticensis Jimenez, 1971 – Bartonian of Spain (=Podocnemis carbajosai)
- †N. zamorensis Jimenez-Fuentes, 1992 – late Lutetian of Spain (Entrala Formation)
Indeterminate remains are known from the latest Eocene (Priabonian) of France and Spain; these have not been assigned to a specific species, but represent the youngest record of the genus. The species "N." fajumensis from the Oligocene of Egypt was briefly assigned to this genus, but is now thought to belong to its own genus, Shetwemys.
Morphological analyses suggest that Neochelys likely represents an ancient lineage of the Erymnochelyinae, sister to the clade composed of the South American Peltocephalus and the Malagasy Erymnochelys. The taxonomic relationships between the multiple Neochelys species remain largely unknown. It has been suggested that N. eocaenica, N. capellinii, and N. salmanticensis together form a species complex known as the "N. eocaenica complex", but this is uncertain.
Ecology
A pathological Neochelys shell is known from the middle Eocene of Spain, hosting abnormalities that were previously thought to be the result of a crocodile attack. However, more recent studies instead suggest that these may instead occurred from parasites or a bacterial/fungal infection.
References
- ^ Pérez-García, Adán; de Lapparent de Broin, France (2013-06-01). "A new species of Neochelys (Chelonii, Podocnemididae) from the Ypresian (Early Eocene) of the South of France". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 12 (5): 269–277. Bibcode:2013CRPal..12..269P. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2013.05.011.
- "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-10-21.
- Martín-Jiménez, Marcos; Pérez-García, Adán (2023-03-28). "Neuroanatomical study of the podocnemidid turtle Neochelys arenarum (Pleurodira), from the early Eocene of France". The Anatomical Record. doi:10.1002/ar.25217. ISSN 1932-8486.
- ^ Cadena, Edwin (2015-08-27). "A global phylogeny of Pelomedusoides turtles with new material of Neochelys franzeni Schleich, 1993 (Testudines, Podocnemididae) from the middle Eocene, Messel Pit, of Germany". PeerJ. 3: e1221. doi:10.7717/peerj.1221. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 4556147. PMID 26336649.
- Pérez-García, Adán; de Lapparent de Broin, France (2015-12-01). "New insights into the anatomy and systematic of 'Papoulemys' laurenti, a representative of Neochelys (Chelonii, Podocnemididae) from the early Eocene of the south of France". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 89 (4): 901–923. Bibcode:2015PalZ...89..901P. doi:10.1007/s12542-015-0259-3.
- Pérez-García, Adán; Guerrero, Andrea; Martín de Jesús, Santiago; Ortega, Francisco (2023-04-18). "Shell characterization of the youngest valid species of the European Eocene genus Neochelys (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae): The Spanish Bartonian Neochelys salmanticensis". The Anatomical Record. doi:10.1002/ar.25225. ISSN 1932-8486. PMID 37072560.
- Gaffney, Eugene S.; Meylan, Peter Andre; Wood, Roger Conant; Simons, Elwyn L.; Campos, Diógenes de Almeida (2011). "Evolution of the side-necked turtles: the family Podocnemididae". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 350: 1–237. hdl:2246/6110.
- Guerrero, Andrea; Ortega, Francisco; Martín de Jesús, Santiago; Pérez-García, Adán (March 2023). "Analysis of the anomalies in a Middle Eocene shell of Neochelys (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae) from the Duero Basin (Zamora, Spain)". Diversity. 15 (3): 314. doi:10.3390/d15030314.