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.基于产自哥伦比亚中古新世至晚古新世塞雷洪组（Cerrejón Formation）的一件部分头骨以及多件代表不同个体发育阶段的部分至近乎完整的背甲（carapace）和腹甲（plastron）标本，本文记述了一种新的龟类——普恩特龟（Puentemys mushaisaensis）。尽管该物种在壳体形态特征上具有独特性，但它兼具两弓龟科（bothremydid）侧颈龟类（pleurodirans）的诸多鉴定特征，包括外枕骨-方骨长接触、低矮圆润且近乎呈圆形的背甲，以及背甲与腹甲的内骨皮质厚度均小于外骨皮质。普恩特龟的最大背甲长度可达151厘米，是目前已知体型最大的两弓龟科龟类，同时也是南美热带古近纪地层中首次发现的两弓龟科物种。针对两弓龟科的分支系统学分析结果显示，普恩特龟与产自欧洲晚白垩世的福克斯龟（Foxemys mechinorum）亲缘关系密切，这表明两弓龟亚科（bothremydines）在晚白垩世至古新世期间曾拥有广泛的地理分布。