Cratochelone
| Cratochelone Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Part of type specimen, proximal left humerus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Family: | †Protostegidae |
| Genus: | †Cratochelone |
| Species: | †C. berneyi
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Cratochelone berneyi Longman, 1915
| |
Cratochelone is an extinct
single species Cratochelone berneyi.[1] The species is known only from the mid to late Albian Toolebuc Formation, part of the Rolling Downs Group, in the Hughenden of Central northern Queensland, Australia.[1]
History and classification
Cratochelone berneyi is known only from one fossil, the
Memoirs of the Queensland Museum.[1] The generic name was coined by Longman to be a contradistinction of the related Albian genus Notochelone also described from Queensland. The specific epithet berneyi is in honor of F. L. Berney who recovered and donated the specimen to the museum.[1][2]
Cratochelone bernedi is one of three protostegid sea turtle taxa described from the fossil record of Australia. Described in 1885 Notochelone costata is the smallest species, while the most recently described species Bouliachelys suteri, is between Notochelone and Cratochelone in size.[1]
In his type description Longman noted the incomplete nature of the fossil and hoped that more complete specimens would be found.[2] Despite this, the type specimen remains the only known specimen of the species.[1]
Description
The holotype specimen's forelimb is represented by the proximal ends of the
entoplastron and its lack of fusion with the surrounding bones indicates that Longman's placement of the genus is accurate. Longman noted the very large size of the bones, and estimated a complete specimen may have reached close to 4 metres (13 ft).[2]
This size was regarded as dubious by later researchers and was recorded several times as 2 metres (6.6 ft). Within his re-description of the type material in 2006, Benjamin Kear reaffirmed the size of full specimens to be in the 4 metres (13 ft) range.
