Data from: New bothremydid turtle (Testudines, Pleurodira) from the Paleocene of north-eastern Colombia

A new turtle, Puentemys mushaisaensis, from the middle to late Paleocene
Cerrejón Formation of Colombia, is described on the basis of a partial
skull and many partial to nearly complete carapaces and plastrons
representing multiple ontogenetic stages. Whereas P. mushaisaensis is
unique in aspects of its shell morphology, it shares many diagnostic
characteristics of bothremydid pleurodirans, including a long
exoccipital-quadrate contact, a very low and rounded almost circular
carapace, and a thinner internal bone cortex than that of the external
cortex in both the carapace and plastron. With a maximum carapacial length
of 151 cm, P. mushaisaensis is the largest known bothremydid turtle and
represents the first occurrence of bothremydids in the Paleogene of South
American tropics. Results from a cladistic analysis of bothremydids
indicate that P. mushaisaensis shares a close relationship with Foxemys
mechinorum from the Late Cretaceous of Europe, indicating a wide-spread
geographical distribution for bothremydines during the Late
Cretaceous–Paleocene.