Pandermochelys is a clade of sea turtles belonging to the superfamily Chelonioidea.[1] It is defined as all turtles more closely related to leatherback sea turtles than to cheloniids (green sea turtles and relatives).[2] It includes the largest living turtles, the leatherback sea turtle, as well as the largest sea turtles of all time, Archelon.

Pandermochelys
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous-Holocene, 110–0 Ma
Female, digging in the sand
Leatherback sea turtle, a species of the family Dermochelyidae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Chelonioidea
Clade: Dermochelyoidae
Clade: Pandermochelys
Joyce et al., 2004
Subgroups

References edit

  1. ^ Kear BP, Lee MS (March 2006). "A primitive protostegid from Australia and early sea turtle evolution". Biol. Lett. 2 (1): 116–9. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0406. PMC 1617175. PMID 17148342.
  2. ^ Joyce W.G, Parham J.F, Gauthier J.A. Developing a protocol for the conversion of rank-based taxon names to phylogenetically defined clade names, as exemplified by turtles. J. Paleont. 2004;78:989–1013.