Testudo chernovi Khosatzky, 1948

Yanenko, V. & Kovalchuk, О., 2023, Late Miocene Turtles Of Grytsiv (Western Ukraine) With Rodent Gnaw Marks On The Carapace Surface, Zoodiversity 57 (4), pp. 311-322 : 315

Testudo chernovi Khosatzky, 1948

Material. Nuchals, NMNHU-P AR 406 ( FIg. 2 , G), AR 407 ( FIg. 3 , A).

Description. The anterior edge of the bones is slightly notched. The cervical scute is narrow, arrow-shaped and wedged on the inner side; its length reaches 11.0 mm. Lateral wings of the nuchal plate are not covered with pleural scutes. The midline length of the specimens AR 406 and AR 407 is equal to 31.6 and 36.1 mm, the greatest width — 38.0 and 46.2 mm, respectively. The length to width ratio is 0.83 (AR 406) and 0.78 (AR 407).

Remarks. The specimens are identical in morphology and shape to those of T. chernovi from the Early Pliocene of Ukraine ( Khosatzky, 1948 a), although they are smaller and possess a shorter cervical scute. The nuchal of the closely related species Testudo kuchurganica Khosatzky, 1948 has a straight anterior edge and its lateral wings are covered with pleural scutes.

A series of characteristic scratches has been observed on one of the specimens considered (fig. 3, B–C). It was interpreted as traces of gnawing or rasping ( Mikuláš et al., 2006) and described as a new ichnospecies below.

Figures

Fig. 2. Turtle remains from the late Miocene of Grytsiv: A–B — Emys sp., xiphiplastron NMNHU-P AR402/4 (A), marginal scute NMNHU-P AR 402/1 (B); C–E — Melanochelys cf. M. moldavica Chkhikvadze, 1983, costal plate NMNHU-P AR 403 (C), right xiphiplastron NMNHU-P AR 405 (D–E); F, I — Trionychidae indet., shell fragments NMNHU-P AR 401/1 (F), AR 401/2 (I); G–H — Testudo chernovi Khosatzky, 1948, nuchal NMNHU-P AR 406 (G), type specimen after Khosatzky (1948 a: FIg.1), modiFIed (not to scale). Scale bars equal 5 mm in A–C, F–G and I, 10 mm in D and E.

Fig. 3. The nuchal plate of Testudo chernovi NMNHU-P AR 407 from Grytsiv with gnaw marks (A); B–C — Machichnus inrosus isp. n., enlarged affected area (B) and a set of individual striae (C); D — combined SEM image of the mandible of Anomalomys grytsivensis Nesin & Kovalchuk, 2021 (NMNHU-P 22/2703) showing the labial surface of the lower incisor with longitudinal ridges.