Notochelone

Notochelone is an extinct genus of sea turtle, which existed about 100 million years ago.[1] The species was first described by Richard Owen in 1882 as Notochelys costata. It was renamed by Richard Lydekker in 1889.[2][3] It was the most common marine reptile living in the inlands of the sea around Queensland, Australia.[4] Its holotype was a small turtle, and was about the same size as the modern green turtle,[1] but might have been a juvenile. Analytical studies have indicated that the creatures frequently ate benthic molluscs.[5]

Notochelone
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: †Protostegidae
Genus: †Notochelone
Lydekker, 1889
Type species
†Notochelys costata
Owen, 1882
Synonyms

References
  1. www.kronosaurus.com.au Archived 2008-07-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on May 12th, 2008.
  2. R. Lydekker. 1889. Note on some points in the nomenclature of fossil reptiles and amphibians, with preliminary notices of two new species. Geological Magazine, decade 3 6:325-326
  3. paleodb.org Retrieved on May 12th, 2008.
  4. www.qm.qld.gov.au Archived 2007-02-21 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on May 12th, 2008.
  5. Kear, B. P. (2006). "First gut contents in a Cretaceous sea turtle". Biology Letters. 2 (1): 113–115. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0374. PMC 1617194. PMID 17148341.


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