Kallokibotion is an extinct genus of stem-turtle from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian, 86–66 million years ago), known from fossils found in Romania.[1] One species is known, Kallokibotion bajazidi, which was named by Franz Nopcsa after his lover Bajazid Doda.[2][3] It literally means 'beautiful box of Bajazid'; Nopcsa chose the name because, in the words of British palaeontologist Gareth Dyke, "the shape of the shell reminded him of Bajazid's arse".[3] A second undescribed species is known from the Santonian of Hungary.[4] Turtles similar to Kallokibotion were reported from the Paleocene of France[5] and the Lower Maastrichtian of Volgograd Oblast, Russia,[6] but these similarities were dismissed later.[5][7]
Kallokibotion Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous,
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Fossil carapace, Deva Natural History Museum | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Pantestudines |
Clade: | Testudinata |
Clade: | Perichelydia |
Family: | †Kallokibotiidae |
Genus: | †Kallokibotion Nopsca, 1923 |
Species: | †K. bajazidi
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Binomial name | |
†Kallokibotion bajazidi Nopsca, 1923
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Synonyms | |
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Kallokibotion reached 50 cm (1 ft 8 in) in carapace length. There are jagged ornaments on its shell.[1]
A fossil of this turtle was mistakenly described as a pterosaur of the genus Thalassodromeus in 2014.[8] In 1992, it was identified as a basal cryptodire, and as a meiolaniid in the early 2010's.[1] Later phylogenetic analysis based on characters described from new specimens places Kallokibotion as the sister taxon of the crown testudines.[9] A 2021 analysis placed Kallokibotion in Compsemydidae within Paracryptodira.[10]
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