Cordichelys, Gaffney & Meylan & Wood & Simons & De Almeida Campos, 2011

Gaffney, Eugene S., Meylan, Peter A., Wood, Roger C., Simons, Elwyn & De Almeida Campos, Diogenes, 2011, Evolution Of The Side-Necked Turtles: The Family Podocnemididae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2011 (350), pp. 1-237 : 49

Cordichelys , new genus

TYPE SPECIES: Podocnemis antiqua Andrews, 1903 .

INCLUDED SPECIES: Cordichelys antiqua .

DIAGNOSIS: A podocnemidid of the Tribe Stereogenyini known from the skull and shell; uniquely possessing among the Tribe Stereogenyini a cordiform (heart-shaped) carapace, shallow interorbital depression, pterygoids narrowly meeting on midline in contrast to either not meeting ( Shweboemys and Stereogenys ) or broadly meeting (all other Tribe Stereogenyini ), a large ventral process of the postorbital in the septum orbitotemporale contacting palatine and preventing jugal-pterygoid contact; medial edges of palatal cleft curved in contrast to Lemurchelys , Shweboemys , and Stereogenys ; low ventral convexity on triturating surface in contrast to high in Bairdemys ; eustachian tube confluent with fenestra postoticum; antrum postoticum open as in Latentemys in contrast to nearly closed in Bairdemys ; frontal and prefrontal flat in profile as in Shweboemys in contrast to rounded in Bairdemys .

Postcrania with six neurals extending to costals six; first neural four sided; pectoral scales do not contact mesoplastra, but do contact entoplastron and epiplastra.

DISTRIBUTION: Egypt, late Eocene.

INCLUDED SPECIES: Cordichelys antiqua .

ETYMOLOGY: Cordi-, from Latin cor, ‘‘heart,’’ in allusion to heart-shaped carapace; chelys, Greek ‘‘turtle.’’

DISCUSSION: Cordichelys resolves as the sister taxon to the remaining members of the Infratribe Bairdemydita , but the number of supporting characters is not great. Cordichelys and Latentemys are relatively generalized within the Tribe Stereogenyini .