A review of the fossil record of South American turtles of the Clade Testudinoidea

Abstract

The fossil record of turtles of the clade Testudinoidea is generally poor in South America. Fossil tortoises (Testudinidae) are known from the Late Oligocene to Holocene, but they likely arrived from Africa during the Late Eocene or Early Oligocene. The fossil record of Trachemys (Emydidae) and Rhinoclemys (Geoemydidae) is restricted to the Pleistocene, but both lineages likely arrived in multiple waves over the course of the Neogene. Our taxonomic review of 12 named fossil testudinoids finds five nomina valida, two nomina invalida, four nomina dubia, and one nomen nudum.