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Bouliachelys suteri
Taxonomy
Bouliachelys suteri was named by Kear and Lee (2006). Its type specimen is QM F31669, a skull, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Dunraven Station, Hughenden area, which is in an Albian marine lime mudstone in the Toolebuc Formation of Australia. It is the type species of Bouliachelys.
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Bouliachelys suteri Kear and Lee p. 116 figs. 1a-g |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Bouliachelys suteri Kear and Lee 2006
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| B. P. Kear and M. S. Lee 2006 | Identical for genus and species due to monotypy. Bouliachelys possesses the unique derived features (within chelonioids) of highly sculpted skull roof bones, a rugose boss anterior to each orbit, and double longitudinal keels (formed by the basisphenoid and pterygoids) on the ventral surface of the basicranium and palate. Bouliachelys differs from Notochelone (the only other Australian fossil sea turtle known from cranial remains) in several additional traits: it is larger, lacks a jugal-quadrate contact, possesses hooked premaxillae, and an upper triturating surface incorporating the palatine but not vomer, a pterygoid excluded from the mandibular condyle, and a basiphenoid-pterygoid with a V-shaped crest (character subscript numbering follows the data matrix in the electronic supplementary material, where distributions are scored across all chelonioids). Bouliachelys is distinguished from all other chelonioids in displaying a unique mosaic of primitive and derived features that suggest it is a basal protostegid (figure 2). All protostegids can be diagnosed by presence of nasal bones, palatines meeting medially, foramen palatinum posterius open posteriorly, biconvex second or third cervical vertebra, lateral process restricted to anterior surface of humerus shaft, and a curved radius (c.f. Hirayama 1998). Santanachelys is the most basal known protostegid; Bouliachelys and later forms share the loss of the ventral cheek emargination, and a strong lingual ridge of the maxilla. Finally, protostegids above Santanchelys and Bouliachelys are united in having a triturating surface that excludes the palatine but includes the vomer |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: superf = superfamily, subo = suborder, c = class, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Bush and Bambach 2015, Uetz 2005 | |||||
Age range: Late/Upper Albian or 105.30000 to 99.60000 Ma
Collections (2 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late/Upper Albian | Australia (Queensland) | Bouliachelys suteri (type locality: 110465 129288) |