Denazinemys was a genus of baenid turtle that lived in the Late Cretaceous of New Mexico. The holotype specimen, which D. nodosa was based on, USNM 8345, consists of a partial carapace and plastron. It came from the De-na-zin Member of the Kirtland Formation, and therefore, Denazinemys lived in the Kirtlandian land-vertebrate age. Many specimens other than the holotype have been assigned to Denazinemys.[1]
| Denazinemys Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Pantestudines |
| Clade: | Testudinata |
| Clade: | †Paracryptodira |
| Family: | †Baenidae |
| Clade: | †Baenodda |
| Genus: | †Denazinemys Lucas and Sullivan, 2006 |
| Species | |
|
D. nodosa (Gilmore, 1916) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
"Baena" nodosa Gilmore, 1916 | |
Numerous shell fragments from the Lower and the Middle Campanian were assigned to Denazinemys nodosa, based on the welted structure of the shell surface. However, a recent study calls into question the attribution of this material to Denazinemys nodosa, as the material is too fragmentary to distinguish differences in the structure of the welted shell surface.[2] As it is not yet possible to identify these fragments precisely (several species of baenidae having this same feature on their shell surface), the researchers restricted Denazinemys nodosa to the Upper Campanian.[2]
Distinguishing characteristics
editPreviously, Scabremys ornata was assigned to Denazinemys as D. ornata. Below are the features found in Denazinemys distinguishing the two genera:[1]
- a carapace that is sub-triangular with widest dimension posteriorly;
- prepleurals present and touching the first vertebrae medially;
- the first vertebrae an irregular hexagonal shape with the greatest width posteriorly, contacting anterior second vertebrae;
- extracervicals lateral to the primary cervicals, the cervicals being sub-divided;
- and carapace nodes irregular and not forming distinct ridges.
Classification
editDenazinemys is a baenid along with Plesiobaena, Boremys, Scabremys, Baena and Chisternon.[1]
Below is a cladogram made by Sullivan et al. in 2013 showing the relations of Denazinemys: (note: Boremys pulchra is partly a junior synonym of Boremys grandis)[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Sullivan, R.M.; Jasinski, S.E.; Lucas, S.G. (2013). "Re-Assessment of Late Campanian (Kirtlandian) Turtles from the Upper Cretaceous Fruitland and Kirtland Formations, San Juan Basin, New Mexico, USA" (PDF). In Brinkman, D.B.; et al. (eds.). Morphology and Evolution of Turtles. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. pp. 337–339. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4309-0_20. ISBN 978-94-007-4308-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
- ^ a b Spicher, G.E.; Sertich, J.J.; Girard, L.C.; Joyce, W.G.; Lyson, T.R.; Rollot, Y. (2023). "A description of a Denazinemys nodosa specimen (Testudinata, Baenidae) from the Late Cretaceous Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah". Fossil Record. 26 (2): 151–170. Bibcode:2023FossR..26..151S. doi:10.3897/fr.26.102520.
