| Basilemys | |
|---|---|
| |
| B. variolosa skeleton, Royal Tyrrell Museum | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Family: | †Nanhsiungchelyidae |
| Genus: | †Basilemys Hay 1902 |
| Type species | |
| †Basilemys variolosa (Cope, 1876)
| |
| Species | |
Basilemys (IPA: [bæsɪlɛmiːs]) ("king turtle" in Greek) is a large, terrestrial nanhsiungchelyid turtle from the Upper Cretaceous of North and Central America.[1] Basilemys has been found in rocks dating to the Campanian and Maastrichtian subdivisions of the Late Cretaceous and is considered to be the largest terrestrial turtle of its time.[2] In an analysis made by Sukhanov et al. on a nansiunghelyid turtle from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia, it was demonstrated that Asian nanhsiungchelyids gave rise to the North American nanhsiungchelyids.[3]
Amongst nanhsiungchelyids, Basilemys is considered to be most similar to tortoises.[4] Many paleontologists have described the behaviors of Basilemys to likely be comparable to that of tortoises, due to living in terrestrial habitats and consuming tough plants.[4] Basilemys is easily distinguishable from other fossil turtles due to how thick its shell is, the intricate sculpture of rows of triangular tubercles separated by pits, and its reduced inframarginal scales.[2] The fossil record is abundant with material from the shell, but cranial and cervical material is quite rare for Basilemys.[1]
- ^ a b Brinkman, Donald (1998). "The skull and neck of the Cretaceous turtle Basilemys (Trionychoidea, Nanhsiungchelyidae), and the interrelationships of the genus". Paludicola. 1 (4): 150–157.
- ^ a b Brinkman, Donald; Nicholls, Elizabeth L. (1993). "New Specimen of Basilemys praeclara Hay and Its Bearing on the Relationships of the Nanhsiungchelyidae (Reptilia: Testudines)". Journal of Paleontology. 67 (6): 1027–1031. Bibcode:1993JPal...67.1027B. doi:10.1017/S002233600002535X. S2CID 89393174.
- ^ Sukhanov, V.B.; Danilov, I.G.; Syromyatnikova, E.V. (2008). "The description and phylogenetic position of a new nanhsiungchelyid turtle from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia". Acta Palaeontol. 53 (4): 601–614. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0405. S2CID 86585072.
- ^ a b Mallon, Jordan; Brinkman, Donald (2018). "Basilemys morrinensis, a new species of nanhsiungchelyid turtle from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada". Journal of Paleontology. 38 (2): e1431922. Bibcode:2018JVPal..38E1922M. doi:10.1080/02724634.2018.1431922.