Dermochelyidae

Dermochelyidae is a family of sea turtles which has seven extinct genera and one extant genus, containing one living species, the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). The oldest fossils of the group date to the Late Cretaceous.

Dermochelyidae Temporal range: Late Paleocene-Holocene, 59–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Possible Late Cretaceous records
Leatherback turtles are the only living representative of the dermochelyid family.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Chelonioidea
Family:	Dermochelyidae Fitzinger, 1843[1]
Genera
See text.
Synonyms[1]
Sphargidae Gray, 1825 Dermatochelydae Fitzinger, 1843 Athecae Cope, 1871 Athecata Lydekker, 1889 Dermochelyidae Lydekker, 1889

Classification of known genera

The following list is based on Gentry et al. (2025):^[2][3]

• Genus †Eosphargis Lydekker, 1889
• Subfamily Dermochelyinae Weems, 1988^[4]
  • Tribe †Uelocini Gentry et al., 2025
    • Genus †Cardiochelys Moody, 1993
    • Genus †Natemys Wood, Johnson-Gove, Gaffney & Maley, 1996
    • Genus †Ueloca Gentry et al., 2025
    • Genus †Zealosphargis Gentry et al., 2025
  • Tribe Dermochelyini Gentry et al., 2025
    • Genus †Cosmochelys Andrews, 1919
    • Genus Dermochelys Blainville, 1816 (including the extant leatherback turtle)
    • Genus †Egyptemys Wood, Johnson-Gove, Gaffney & Maley, 1996
    • Genus †Psephophorus von Meyer, 1847

The Late Cretaceous Japanese sea turtle †Mesodermochelys was formerly considered a member of this family, which would make it one of the oldest members of the group. However, a 2012 taxonomic revision found it to not be closely related to Dermochelys, and more likely a basal panchelonioid.^[5] Similarly, the genus †Arabemys Tong et al., 1999 from the Maastrichtian or Early Eocene of Saudi Arabia shows osteoderm morphology unknown among any other dermochelyid, and may be an archosaur instead. Excluding these two, the earliest known dermochelyid is the basal genus Eosphargis from the ?Late Paleocene and Early Eocene.^[2]

The two tribes of Dermochelyinae appear to have diverged in the Middle Eocene. The Uelocini saw most of its diversity in the Paleogene, with the last surviving member being Natemys from the Early Miocene. Dermochelyini also saw several genera appear around the Eocene, and Psephophorus survived up to the end of the Miocene, but Dermochelys is the only extant member.^[2]

Hypothetical reconstruction of Zealosphargis terrypratchetti

Phylogeny

Evers et al. (2019):^[6]

Panchelonioidea	†Toxochelys †Protostegidae Chelonioidea †Corsochelys Dermochelyidae †Nichollsemys †Allopleuron Cheloniidae †Argillochelys †Procolpochelys †Eochelone †Puppigerus †Ctenochelys †Peritresius †Cabindachelys