Ctenochelys (meaning "comb tortoise") is an extinct genus of marine turtle (Cryptodira, Pancheloniidae), which existed during the Cretaceous period, and lived in the shallow waters of the Western Interior Seaway.[1] Its fossils have been found in the Ripley Formation and Mooreville Chalk of central Alabama, United States.[2] It was first named by C. H. Sternberg in 1904,[3] and contains two species, C. stenoporus[4] and C. acris.[5]
Ctenochelys Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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Ctenochelys stenoporus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Superfamily: | Chelonioidea |
Family: | †Ctenochelyidae |
Genus: | †Ctenochelys Zangerl, 1953 |
Type species | |
†C. stenoporus | |
Species | |
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Ctenochelys stenoporus is the type species. It was originally thought to be a species of Toxochelys; T. bauri, until Sternberg declared it a separate genus.[3] The two genera are similar in carapaces.[1]
Ctenochelys acris was first named by Zangerl in 1953 and is now thought to be one of the earliest ancestors of modern cheloniids.[6]