New material of Dinochelys whitei Gaffney, 1979, from the Dry Mesa Quarry (Morrison Formation, Jurassic) of Colorado

ABSTRACT

A specimen of a juvenile individual of Dinochelys from the Dry Mesa Quarry, Morrison Formation, provides the first record of the skull and neck in this genus. Dinochelys is interpreted as related to Glyptops on the basis of a similar development of sculpture on the vertebral scutes of juvenile individuals, and a similar development of a beak on the premaxilla and dentary. Desmemys, a turtle from the Early Cretaceous of Europe is interpreted as closely related to Dinochelys on the basis of similarities in the proportions of the scutes of the carapace and similar development of fenestration on the carapace and plastron. The relationship between Desmemys and Dinochelys further emphasizes the connections between the turtle assemblages of North America and Europe during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.