The Iberian fossil record of turtles: an update

Abstract

Purpose: The record of fossil turtles of the Iberian Peninsula is abundant and diverse, considering both the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic forms. The knowledge about the Iberian representatives has been significantly improved through the studies carried out in recent years. More than a third of the species nominated in the Iberian record have been described in the 21st century, corresponding to more than half of the currently valid species defined there. These recent studies allowed to recognize unknown lineages for the Iberian record, to refute several attributions or the validity of several taxa, to raise new hypotheses about the palaeobiogeographical and biostratigraphic distributions of several linages, as well as to provide new data on their dispersal events to Europe and, more specifically, to the Iberian Peninsula. Several previous determinations were not reviewed so far, and the validity of several taxa was not evaluated. Thus, the hypotheses about their systematic positions were not updated. Methods: The information on the diversity of the Iberian turtles is collected and evaluated here. Some synonyms are supported or proposed here, the phylogenetic position of several forms is revised, and all the Iberian taxa, which are revised here, are figured. Results: The evolutionary history of the turtles of the Iberian Peninsula, from the Upper Jurassic to the present, is compiled, evaluated and synthesized for the first time. Conclusions: The palaeobiogeography and the information on the origin of each of the lineages of turtles recognized here are considered, as well as the knowledge on their temporal distributions.