First reliable records of the genus Chersine (Testudines: Testudinidae) from the Pliocene of Moldova

ABSTRACT

The shell remains of tortoises of the genus Chersine (= Eurotestudo) are described from the early Pliocene of the Musait and Colibasi localities of Moldova. The incomplete shell from the Musait locality is assigned to a new species, Chersine khosatzkyi sp. nov., which can be distinguished from all other species of Chersine by relatively wide posterior lobe of the plastron with nearly parallel lateral borders and presence of additional suprapygal. An isolated pygal from the Colibasi locality is attributed to Chersine sp. Chersine from the Musait and Colibasi localities represent first reliable records of Chersine in Moldova and the easternmost records of Chersine (the second one outside the Mediterranean region). In addition, these finds are among the oldest fossil records of the genus.

KEYWORDS:

• Chersine
• Testudinidae
• Pliocene
• Moldova

Acknowledgments

We thank Anatoli David, Theodor Obada and Viorica Pascaru (Zoology of Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Chisinau, Moldova) for the help during the work with the material. We thank Evangelos Vlachos (CONICET and Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Argentina) for helpful comments that have improved the quality of the manuscript. The work was partially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research under Grants 19-04-00514 and 18-05-00746, and was performed in the framework of the theme of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences no. AAAAA19-119020590095-9.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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Funding

This work was supported by the theme of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences [AAAAA19-119020590095-9]; Russian Foundation of Basic Research [18-05-00746,19-04-00514].