Two new Triassic turtles from Greenland

Turtles appeared in the Triassic and quickly attained global distribution. Yet, until recently, their early diversity was poorly recognized. The paper presents two new genera and species of Triassic turtles from Greenland established based on material collected in the late 20^th century. Their taxonomic distinctiveness confirms recent observations suggesting restricted geographic ranges of individual genera and the genus Proganochelys occurring solely within the area of today’s Europe. The previously unrecorded features of the newly described genera significantly increase our knowledge about the early turtle anatomy.

Figure: Shell of one of the described species Ypomonetikochelys euryaspis („a patient turtle with broad shields”) NHMD 1903049 (Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen; exposition at the Geocenter Møns Klint) in dorsal (top) and ventral (bottom) view.