Paracryptodira

Paracryptodira
Temporal range: Jurassic-Eocene
Ordosemys liaoxiensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Infraorder: Paracryptodira
Gaffney, 1975
Families

Baenidae
Pleurosternidae

Synonyms

Pleurosternoidea

The Paracryptodira are an extinct group of turtles. Initially treated as suborder sister to the Cryptodira,[1] they are now known to be a very primitive lineage inside the Cryptodira according to the most common use of the latter taxon.[2]

Characteristics

Paracryptodira have reduced prefrontal exposure on the dorsal surface of their skulls, reduced fenestrae perilymphaticae, and secondarily reduced supraoccipital crests.[2] In the skull, the posterior foramen for the internal carotid canal is located midway along the basisphenoid-pterygoid suture.[1]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Gaffney (1975)
  2. 1 2 Joyce (2007)

References


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