Resumo

PEREZ GARCIA, Adán; ORTEGA, Francisco  e  MURELAGA, Xabier. Expansion of the geographical and temporal range of Elochelys convenarun(Chelonii Bothremydidae) from de Upper Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula. Ameghiniana [online]. 2010, vol.47, n.3, pp.307-315. ISSN 1851-8044.

The Campanian and Maastrichtian chelonian fauna of Western Europe was mainly composed of endemic taxa. The Bothremydidae-represented by the genera Rosasia, Foxemys, Polysternon and Elochelys-are very abundant in this record. Elochelys is known through relatively scarce material consisting only of isolated plates and carapaces, which are presently assigned to two species, i.e., Elochelys perfecta and Elochelys convenarum. In France, two specimens from the Campanian of Fuveau, Provence, have been assigned to the species Elochelys perfecta; one carapace is now taken to be the holotype of the species, while the anterior half of another carapace was described as the paratype. The holotype of Elochelys convenarum consists of a carapace from the upper Maastrichtian at Cassagnau-2 (Haute-Garonne), and specimens from the upper Campanian-lower Maastrichtian at Fox Amphoux, Provence, have been tentatively assigned to this genus. In Spain, the only reference to this genus is ?Elochelys sp. from the upper Campanian fossil site of Laño, in Treviño County, Burgos. Abundant specimens of pleurodiran turtles have been recognized at the new Upper Cretaceous fossil locality of Lo Hueco (Fuentes, Cuenca, Spain). Herein, we refer to Elochelys convenarum a carapace from this site. This carapace is the most complete specimen referred to Elochelys and constitutes the first robust evidence of the presence of this genus in the Iberian Peninsula, expanding the chronostratigraphic distribution of the species to the late Campanian-early Maastrichtian.

Palavras-chave : Chelonii; Bothremydidae; Elochelys; Upper Cretaceous; Lo Hueco.