PCI Paleontology

216

Title *

A baenid turtle shell from the Mesaverde Formation (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) of Park County, Wyoming, USAuse asterix (*) to get italics

Authors *

Ka Yan Wu, Jared Heuck, Frank J. Varriale, and Andrew A. FarkePlease use the format "First name initials family name" as in "Marie S. Curie, Niels H. D. Bohr, Albert Einstein, John R. R. Tolkien, Donna T. Strickland"

Year *

2023

Picture *

Abstract *

The Mesaverde Formation of the Wind River and Bighorn basins of Wyoming preserves a rich yet relatively unstudied terrestrial and marine faunal assemblage dating to the Campanian. To date, turtles within the formation have been represented primarily by isolated fragments diagnostic only to broader clades. A baenid specimen from the lower third of the Mesaverde Formation in the northwestern Bighorn Basin of Park County, Wyoming, includes a partial carapace and plastron and is the most complete turtle specimen yet described from the formation. The entire carapace would have been around 450 mm long and 380 mm wide, indicating a fairly large individual. The preserved portions of the carapace are smooth and unornamented, and the overall oval dorsal profile of the shell is similar to taxa such as Neurankylus spp. The anterior plastral lobe in the new specimen is squared off in profile as seen in Neurankylus spp., unlike the more rounded or triangular condition in Boremys spp., Eubaena hatcheri, and Baena spp., among others. The likely omega-shaped femoral-anal sulcus differs from the condition in Neurankylus spp., better matching the condition seen in many (but not all) Baenodda, although only one half of the fossil preserves the sulcus, and it may lie within expected variation for Neurankylus. Based on the overall combination of features in this Mesaverde Formation specimen, we tentatively assign it to Neurankylus sp., the first report for this taxon as well as Baenidae in the Mesaverde Formation of the Bighorn Basin.

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https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21897225, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21897432, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21897258You should fill this box only if you chose 'All or part of the results presented in this preprint are based on data'. URL must start with http:// or https://

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Keywords (optional)

Mesaverde Formation, Laramidia, Cretaceous, Testudines, Baenidae, Baenodda

Methods that require specific expertise (optional)

NonePlease indicate the methods that may require specialised expertise during the peer review process (use a comma to separate various required expertises).

Thematic fields *

Paleobiodiversity, Paleobiogeography, Vertebrate paleontology

Suggested reviewers - Suggest up to 10 reviewers (provide names and Email addresses). (Optional)

Walter Joyce, walter.g.joyce@gmail.com, Heather Smith, hsmith@midwestern.edu, Brent Adrian, brentonadrian@gmail.com, Tyler Lyson, tyler.lyson@dmns.org, Donald Brinkman, don.brinkman@gov.ab.ca No need for them to be recommenders of PCIPaleo. Please do not suggest reviewers for whom there might be a conflict of interest. Reviewers are not allowed to review preprints written by close colleagues (with whom they have published in the last four years, with whom they have received joint funding in the last four years, or with whom they are currently writing a manuscript, or submitting a grant proposal), or by family members, friends, or anyone for whom bias might affect the nature of the review - see the code of conduct

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Submission date

2023-01-16 16:26:43

Recommender

Jérémy Anquetin

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