The First Jurassic turtle from India

A primitive cryptodiran turtle, Indochelys spatulata gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Early Jurassic Kota Formation, a member of the Upper Gondwana Group in the Pranhita‐Godavari Valley, Deccan, India. The shell morphology of Indochelys differs substantially from that of the Triassic Proganoc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPalaeontology Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 99 - 109
Main Authors Datta, P.M., Manna, P., Ghosh, S.C., Das, D. P.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK and Boston, USA Blackwell Publishers Ltd 01.04.2000
Subjects
Indochelys spatulata
India
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Summary:A primitive cryptodiran turtle, Indochelys spatulata gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Early Jurassic Kota Formation, a member of the Upper Gondwana Group in the Pranhita‐Godavari Valley, Deccan, India. The shell morphology of Indochelys differs substantially from that of the Triassic Proganochelys of Germany but is significantly similar to the oldest known Early Jurassic cryptodire, Kayentachelys, from the Kayenta Formation of Arizona. Indochelys also shares many shell characters with the Late Jurassic North American turtles, in particular Dinochelys. The new family Indochelyidae is proposed, which probably has the same phyletic status as that of Kayentachelyidae, with both evolving simultaneously in different regions.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0031-0239
1475-4983
DOI:10.1111/1475-4983.00120