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Hesperotestudo gilbertii

Reptilia - Testudines - Testudinidae

Taxonomy
Testudo gilbertii was named by Hay (1899). Its type specimen is KU 1245, a skull (skull and mandible), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Testudo gilbertii type locality, which is in a Tortonian/Zanclean terrestrial horizon in the Ogallala Formation of Kansas.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Williams (1953) and Auffenberg (1963); it was recombined as Hesperotestudo gilbertii by Vlachos (2018).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1899Testudo gilbertii Hay p. 349
1902Testudo gilbertii Hay p. 451
1930Testudo gilbertii Hay p. 103
2018Hesperotestudo gilbertii Vlachos

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
RankNameAuthor
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
Sauropsida
classReptilia
Testudinata(Oppel 1811)
orderTestudinesBatsch 1788
suborderCryptodira
Pantestudinoidea
superfamilyTestudinoidea
familyTestudinidaeBatsch 1788
subfamilyXerobatinaeAgassiz 1857
genusHesperotestudo(Williams 1950)
speciesgilbertii()

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.

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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
O. P. Hay 1899Mr. J. Z. Gilbert || has described the skull of a species of Testudo from the Loup Fork beds of Kansas and identified it with Prof. Cope's T. undata, described* from the Loup Fork deposits of New Mexico. Since nothing is known of the latter species except a few marginals and a costal bone, there is really no evidence that the fine skull described by Gilbert belongs to T. undata. The probabilities are greater that it belongs to one of the species described by Prof. Copef from the Loup Fork beds of Kansas, Testudo orthopygia and T. cyclopygia. Of T. orthopygia Prof. Cope possessed most of the skeleton including the skull. A comparison of Mr. Gilbert's figures and description with the description of Prof. Cope makes it pretty certain that the former is not identical with T. orthopygia. Of T. cyclopygia the skull is not known, and we have no means of comparing it with Mr. Gilbert's species. This being the case, it
is better, I believe, to give the latter a distinct name, so that its literature may be kept separate until further discoveries demonstrate its relationship to other described forms. I name it in honor of its describer Testudo gilbertii.
E. Vlachos 2018Hesperotestudo gilbertii can be diagnosed as a member of Hesperotestudo based on the characters listed for that clade above. Hesperotestudo gilbertii differs from Hesperotestudo osborniana and Hesperotestudo orthopygia in the ventral expansion of the postorbital that divides the jugal and quadratojugal, the longer vomer that divides most of the pterygoids, and in the visibility of the foramen praepalatinum on the ventral part of the premaxillae. Hesperotestudo gilbertii further differs from Hesperotestudo orthopygia in the longer frontals medially and the absence of contact between the parietal and the squamosal.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialf
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: ground dwellingf
Diet: herbivoref
Diet 2: herbivoref
Reproduction: oviparousf
Created: 2005-08-26 07:16:55
Modified: 2005-09-09 16:16:46
Source: f = family, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Ernst and Barbour 1989

Age range: base of the Tortonian to the top of the Zanclean or 11.62000 to 3.60000 Ma

Collections: one only


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Tortonian - Zanclean11.62 - 3.6USA (Kansas) Xerobates undata (type locality: 191555)