Osteology of the Middle Triassic stem-turtle Pappochelys rosinae and the early evolution of the turtle skeleton

Abstract

Pappochelys extends the fossil record of Triassic stem-turtles back by some 20 million years, and provides important new insights into how and in what sequence the key features of turtles arose. It shares various derived features with the early Late Triassic stem-turtle Odontochelys, such as T-shaped ribs, a short trunk, and features of the girdles and limbs. At the same time, it is more plesiomorphic in retaining a fully diapsid skull and in lacking both neurals and a plastron with plate-like elements. Pappochelys provides important new evidence that the carapace and plastron of turtles are distinct moieties that evolved independently from each other. The skull of Pappochelys is more or less triangular in plan view. The marginal dentition comprises peg-like teeth with subthecodont implantation. Whereas the upper temporal fenestra is relatively small and rounded, the lower temporal opening is large and ventrally open. The slender vomers are fused. The vertebral column of Pappochelys comprises probably eight cervical, probably nine dorsal, two sacral, and more than 24 caudal vertebrae. The dorsal ribs have asymmetrical anterior and posterior flanges and their external surfaces are heavily ornamented. The gastralia form pairs of robust elements, one per vertebral segment. The scapula has a slender dorsal shaft and a rounded ‘acromial’ flange. The humerus has a slightly dorsally raised proximal head and a gently sigmoidal curvature. The pubis closely resembles that of Odontochelys in overall shape and has a well-developed lateral process. We performed a phylogenetic analysis using a modified character-taxon matrix (272 characters, 50 taxa) from a recent study to assess the placement of Pappochelys among amniotes. Pappochelys was found to nest among Pantestudines with Eunotosaurus and the more derived Odontochelys and Proganochelys. The diapsid affinities of turtles are well supported but it is still unresolved whether turtles are saurians or only related to the latter.

Keywords:

• Reptilia
• Diapsida
• Pantestudines
• carapace
• plastron
• Triassic

Acknowledgements

We thank Norbert Adorf, Isabell Rosin, Marit Kamenz and Kim Krämer for their hard work in the field and the skillful preparation of the material of Pappochelys. Jens Rieger (Zeiss Metrology Services, Aalen) undertook the microCT scanning. Paavo Bergmann and Daniel Dick introduced RRS to the software packages Amira and VGStudioMax. Paulina Kondraskov assisted with problems with the cladistic analysis. H-DS gratefully acknowledges receipt of an Award for Excellence in Research and Teaching from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which made earlier phases of this research possible. We thank Gabe Bever, Martin Fischer, Nick Fraser, Jacques Gauthier, Walter Joyce, Tyler Lyson, Johannes Müller, Sterling Nesbitt, Márton Rabi, Olivier Rieppel and Erich Weber for valuable discussions. Gabe Bever and three anonymous reviewers provided thoughtful critiques of an earlier version of the manuscript.

Supplemental data

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed at:https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2017.1354936.