Rhinochelys amaberti Moret (1935), a protostegid turtle from the Early Cretaceous of France

摘要: Modern marine turtles (chelonioids) are the remnants of an ancient radiation that roots in Cretaceous. The oldest members first recorded from Early Cretaceous and a series species known Albian-Cenomanian interval, many which have been allocated to widespread but poorly defined genus Rhinochelys, possibly concealing diversity evolution early turtles. In order better understand chelonioids, we redescribe holotype assess taxonomy Rhinochelys amaberti Moret (1935) (UJF-ID.11167) Late Albian (Stoliczkaia dispar Zone) Vallon de la Fauge (Isere, France). We also make preliminary assessments phylogenetic relationships Chelonioidea using two updated datasets widely sample taxa, especially Rhinochelys. is valid taxon supported by eight autapomorphies; emended diagnosisis proposed. Our analyses suggest could be polyphyletic, constraining it as monophyletic entity does not produce trees significantly less parsimonious. Moreover, support values stratigraphic congruence indexes fairly low for recovered typologies, suggesting missing data still strongly affect our understanding diversification sea