Deirochelys

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Deirochelys
Temporal range: Miocene - Recent
Chicken turtle (D. reticularia) basking
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Emydidae
Subfamily: Deirochelyinae
Genus: Deirochelys
Agassiz, 1857
Type species
Deirochelys reticularia
, 1801
Species[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Dirochelys
    ex errore
    )
  • Dierochelys Löding, 1922 (ex errore)

Deirochelys is a genus of freshwater

extinct member, Deirochelys carri, is known from a fossil found in Alachua County, Florida.[3] The genus was first described by Louis Agassiz in 1857,[4] and its name is derived from the Ancient Greek words for "neck" (deirḗ) and "tortoise" (khélūs), referring to the particularly long necks of these turtles.[5]

Evolution

Like other emydids (members of the family Emydidae), Deirochelys'

long-branch attraction and concluded that Deirochelys did indeed sit within Deirochelyinae.[8] Spinks et al. (2009) also found Deirochelys to be a sister to Emydidae under maximum parsimony.[9]

It has been proposed that Deirochelys and the painted turtles Chrysemys are among the most ancient emydids, having diverged from the rest of the emydids more than 24.4 million years ago. The genus Deirochelys itself is thought to have evolved before the end of the Clarendonian, over 10.3 million years ago.[10]

Bickham, et al. 1996
Emydidae
Spinks, et al. 2009
Testudinoidea

Species

There are two currently accepted species:

A possible third species, D. floridana, was described by Oliver Perry Hay in 1908 from a fossil specimen. In 1964, C.G. Jackson determined the specimen to instead be D. reticularia, but in 1974 he reassigned it to the genus Chrysemys. Jasinski (2018) reasserted that this turtle did indeed represent a separate species of Deirochelys.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Deirochelys". Mindat.org. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  2. doi:10.3897/vz.57.e30895
    . Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  3. ^ Jackson, Dale R. (1978). "Evolution and fossil record of the chicken turtle Deirochelys, with a re-evaluation of the genus". Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany. 20. New Orleans, Louisiana: Tulane University: 43. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  4. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.12644
    . Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  5. ^ "Taxonomy chapter for Turtle, eastern chicken (030064)". BOVA booklet. Virginia Fish and Wildlife Information Service. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  6. ^ Killebrew, Flavius C. (1977). "Mitotic chromosomes of turtles. IV. The Emydidae". Texas Journal of Science. 29 (3/4). Texas Academy of Science: 245–254. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  7. JSTOR 3892960
    .
  8. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8312.2003.00211.x
    .
  9. PMID 19284630
    .
  10. ^
    PMID 29456887
    .
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