Chubutemys

Chubutemys was an extinct genus of meiolaniform turtle. It lived during the Early Cretaceous of Argentina, around the Albian-Aptian border, within the Puesto La Paloma Member of the Cerro Barcino Formation. It is known from most of the skeleton and carapace, and part of the skull.

Chubutemys Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 112 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Pantestudines
Clade:	Testudinata
Clade:	Perichelydia
Clade:	†Meiolaniformes
Genus:	†Chubutemys Gaffney et al., 2007
Type species
Chubutemys copelloi Gaffney et al., 2007

Description

A skeleton, including most of the skull, is known for Chubutemys. As the skull was found in the same quarry as the postcranial skeleton, it was decided to be likely to be from the same individual. The shell of the specimen is remarkably thin.^[1]

Classification

Chubutemys is a turtle that is relatively easy to classify. Among related genera, Sterli et al. found Patagoniaemys to be the most unstable genus. The cladogram below shows the relationships of Chubutemys, and three possible placements of Patagoniaemys:^[1]

Testudinata	Proganochelys quenstedti Proterochersis robusta Kayentachelys aprix Patagoniaemys gasparinae Eileanchelys waldmani Testudines Meiolaniformes Chubutemys copelloi Patagoniaemys gasparinae Mongolochelys efremovi Pelogrochelys walshae Patagoniaemys gasparinae Otwayemys cuncularis Kallokibotion bajazidi Meiolaniidae Niolamia argentina Ninjemys oweni Warkalania carinaminor Meiolania platyceps

Paleoecology

Chubutemys is from the Cerro Barcino Formation. A locality of many turtles, nicknamed "Turtle Town", located within the Puesto La Paloma Member of the formation, contains fossils of Chubutemys. The formation includes many layers of pyrloclastic-rich rocks, and the different layers are many different colours. The layer inside the Puesto La Paloma Member, which is coloured green, was dated to the Albian-Aptian boundary.^[1]