Neochelys (Greek for "new turtle") is an extinctgenus of freshwater side-necked turtle that inhabited Europe during the Eocene. It was a diverse genus known throughout western and southern Europe from the Ypresian to the Priabonian.[1]
†N. salmanticensis Jimenez, 1971 – Bartonian of Spain (=Podocnemis carbajosai)[6]
†N. zamorensis Jimenez-Fuentes, 1992 – late Lutetian of Spain (Entrala Formation)
Well-preserved specimens of N. franzeni are known from the Messel Formation
Indeterminate remains are known from the latest Eocene (Priabonian) of France and Spain; these have not been assigned to a specific species, but represent the youngest record of the genus.[1] The species "N." fajumensis from the Oligocene of Egypt was briefly assigned to this genus, but is now thought to belong to its own genus, Shetwemys.[7]
Morphological analyses suggest that Neochelys likely represents an ancient lineage of the Erymnochelyinae, sister to the clade composed of the South American Peltocephalus and the Malagasy Erymnochelys.[4] The taxonomic relationships between the multiple Neochelys species remain largely unknown. It has been suggested that N. eocaenica, N. capellinii, and N. salmanticensis together form a species complex known as the "N. eocaenica complex", but this is uncertain.[1]
Ecology
A pathological Neochelys shell is known from the middle Eocene of Spain, hosting abnormalities that were previously thought to be the result of a crocodile attack. However, more recent studies instead suggest that these may instead occurred from parasites or a bacterial/fungal infection.[8]
