TY - JOUR AU - Rabi, Márton AU - Zhou, C-F AU - Wings, O AU - Ge, S AU - Joyce, WG TI - A new xinjiangchelyid turtle from the Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang, China and the evolution of the basipterygoid process in Mesozoic turtles JF - BMC EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY J2 - BMC EVOL BIOL VL - 13 PY - 2013 IS - 1 PG - 29 SN - 1471-2148 DO - 10.1186/1471-2148-13-203 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/2465392 ID - 2465392 N1 - N1 Funding Details: DFG, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft AB - Background: Most turtles from the Middle and Late Jurassic of Asia are referred to the newly defined clade Xinjiangchelyidae, a group of mostly shell-based, generalized, small to mid-sized aquatic froms that are widely considered to represent the stem lineage of Cryptodira. Xinjiangchelyids provide us with great insights into the plesiomorphic anatomy of crown-cryptodires, the most diverse group of living turtles, and they are particularly relevant for understanding the origin and early divergence of the primary clades of extant turtles. Results: Exceptionally complete new xinjiangchelyid material from the ?Qigu Formation of the Turpan Basin (Xinjiang Autonomous Province, China) provides new insights into the anatomy of this group and is assigned to Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. A phylogenetic analysis places Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. in a monophyletic polytomy with other xinjiangchelyids, including Xinjiangchelys junggarensis, X. radiplicatoides, X. levensis and X. latiens. However, the analysis supports the unorthodox, though tentative placement of xinjiangchelyids and sinemydids outside of crown-group Testudines. A particularly interesting new observation is that the skull of this xinjiangchelyid retains such primitive features as a reduced interpterygoid vacuity and basipterygoid processes. Conclusions: The homology of basipterygoid processes is confidently demonstrated based on a comprehensive review of the basicranial anatomy of Mesozoic turtles and a new nomenclatural system is introduced for the carotid canal system of turtles. The loss of the basipterygoid process and the bony enclosure of the carotid circulation system occurred a number of times independently during turtle evolution suggesting that the reinforcement of the basicranial region was essential for developing a rigid skull, thus paralleling the evolution of other amniote groups with massive skulls. © 2013 Rabi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Rabi, Márton AU - Joyce, WG AU - Wings, O TI - A review of the Mesozoic turtles of the Junggar Basin (Xinjiang, Northwest China) and the paleobiogeography of Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Asian testudinates JF - PALAEOBIODIVERSITY AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTS J2 - PALAEOBIODIV PALAEOENV VL - 90 PY - 2010 IS - 3 SP - 259 EP - 273 PG - 15 SN - 1867-1594 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/2708803 ID - 2708803 LA - English DB - MTMT ER -