Carettochelyidae

Carettochelyidae
Temporal range:
Pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta)
Fossil of Allaeochelys crassesculptata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Trionychia
Family: Carettochelyidae
Gill, 1889
Genera

See text

Carettochelyidae is a family of cryptodiran turtles belonging to the Trionychia. It contains only a single living species, the pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) native to New Guinea and Northern Australia. Stem-group carettochelyids are known from the Cretaceous of Asia,[1] with the family being widely distributed across North America, Europe, Asia and Africa during much of the Cenozoic.[2]

Taxonomy

After Joyce, 2014[2] unless otherwise noted.

  • Carettochelyidae sensu Kim et al. 2025[1] (also known Pan-Carettochelys Joyce, Parham and Gauthier 2004)[2]
    • Byeoljubuchelys Kim et al., 2025
    • Kizylkumemys Nessov, 1976
    • Indeterminate fragments of stem-carettochelyids are also known from the Cenomanian aged Bayan Shireh Formation, Mongolia, which were originally assigned to "Anosteira" shuwalovi Chkhikvadze in Shuvalov and Chkhikvadze, 1979, which Joyce 2014 regarded as a nomen dubium.[2]
    • Carettochelyidae Gill, 1889 sensu Joyce 2014.[2]
      • Anosteira Leidy, 1871
        • Anosteira manchuriana Zangerl, 1947 Liaoning, China, late Eocene
        • Anosteira maomingensis Chow and Liu, 1955 Youkanwo Formation, Guangdong, China, Late Eocene
        • Anosteira mongoliensis Gilmore, 1931 Inner Mongolia, China, Late Eocene-Oligocene
        • Anosteira ornata Leidy, 1871 Bridger Formation, Wyoming, USA, Early Eocene
        • Anosteira pulchra (Clark, 1932) Uinta Formation, Utah, USA, Middle Eocene (Lutetian)
      • Chorlakkichelys shahi De Broin, 1987[3] from the Early Eocene (Lutetian) aged Kuldana Formation, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan was considered to be a nomem dubium and an indeterminate carettochelyid by Joyce, 2014, due to the fragmentary and heavily eroded nature of the specimens.[2]
      • Carettochelyinae Williams, 1950


Cladogram after Kim et al. 2025.[1]

Carettochelyidae

Byeoljubuchelys yeosuensis

Kizylkumemys khoratensis

Kizylkumemys schultzi

Anosteira

Anosteira pulchra

Anosteira ornata

Anosteira manchuriana

Anosteira maomingensis

Anosteira mongoliensis

Allaeochelys + Carettochelys

Allaeochelys lingnanica

Allaeochelys delheidi

Allaeochelys crassesculpta

Allaeochelys magnifica

Allaeochelys parayrei

Allaeochelys liliae

Allaeochelys libyca

Carettochelys insculpta (pig-nosed turtle)

References

  1. ^ a b c d Kim, Minguk; Jung, Jongyun; Joyce, Walter G.; Park, Jae-Il; Jung, Hye-Yeon; Jo, Hyemin; Huh, Min (December 2025). "A new, Early Cretaceous carettochelyid turtle from South Korea provides insights into softshell evolution and aquatic ecology". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144 (1) 75. doi:10.1186/s13358-025-00415-z.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Joyce, Walter G. (April 2014). "A Review of the Fossil Record of Turtles of the Clade Pan-Carettochelys". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 55 (1): 3–33. Bibcode:2014BPMNH..55....3J. doi:10.3374/014.055.0102. ISSN 0079-032X. S2CID 59382889.
  3. ^ Gayet, M.; De Broin, F.; Rage, J.C. (1987). "Lower Vertebrates from the Early-Middle Eocene Kuldana Formation of Kohat (Pakistan): Holostei and Teleostei, Chelonia, and Squamata" (PDF). Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology. 27 (7): 151–193.
  4. ^ Carbot-Chanona, Gerardo; Rivera-Velázquez, Gustavo; Jiménez-Hidalgo, Eduardo; Reynoso, Víctor Hugo (December 2020). "The first Pan-Carettochelys turtle in the Neogene of the American continent and its paleobiogeographical relevance". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 104 102925. Bibcode:2020JSAES.10402925C. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102925. S2CID 224976641.
  5. ^ White, Arthur W.; Archer, Michael; Hand, Suzanne J.; Godthelp, Henk; Gillespie, Anna K. (2023-10-02). "A new broad-snouted fossil carettochelyid turtle from a previously unknown Caenozoic deposit in Sarawak, Malaysia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 47 (4): 614–623. Bibcode:2023Alch...47..614W. doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2243503. ISSN 0311-5518.
  6. ^ Rule, James P.; Kool, Lesley; Parker, William M.G.; Fitzgerald, Erich M.G. (2021-12-07). Mannion, Philip (ed.). "Turtles all the way down: Neogene pig-nosed turtle fossil from southern Australia reveals cryptic freshwater turtle invasions and extinctions". Papers in Palaeontology. 8 spp2.1414. doi:10.1002/spp2.1414. ISSN 2056-2799. S2CID 245107305.
  7. ^ Glaessner, Martin F. (1942-07-08). "The occurrence of the New Guinea Turtle (Carettochelys) in the Miocene of Papua". Records of the Australian Museum. 21 (2): 106–109. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.21.1942.262. ISSN 0067-1975.