An unexpected finding: identification of the first complete shell of the Franco-Belgian middle Eocene littoral pleurodiran turtle Eocenochelus eremberti in Spain

New shell information and new generic attributions for the Egyptian podocnemidid turtles “<i>Podocnemis</i>” <i>fajumensis</i> (Oligocene) and “<i>Podocnemis</i>” <i>aegyptiaca</i> (Miocene)

“…One of the main regions where several extinct species were originally defined as members of Podocnemis was Africa. Thus, the bothremydid Taphrosphys congolensis (Dollo, 1913), from the middle to upper Paleocene of Angola, was originally established as a representative of Podocnemis (see Pérez-García et al, 2020); the poorly known "Podocnemis" somaliensis Walker, 1966, from the middle Eocene of Somalia, is currently identified as a member of Bothremydidae, of uncertain generic assignment, rather than being recognized as a podocnemidid (see Gaffney et al, 2006). The podocnemidid Cordichelys antiqua (Andrews, 1903), from the late Eocene of Egypt, was originally defined as a member of Podocnemis; "Podocnemis stromeri" von Reinach, 1903a, from the same locality and age, is currently recognized as a junior synonym of it (see Gaffney et al, 2011, and references therein).…”

“…The putative identification of some African species as attributable to Podocnemis not only affected extinct taxa. Thus, the extant Erymnochelys madagascariensis (Grandidier, 1867), which is the only representative of Erymnochelyini (Erymnochelyinae, Podocnemididae) that is part of the current biodiversity (Pérez-García et al, 2021), was also considered attributable to Podocnemis (Boettger, 1893;Dacqué, 1912).…”

“…Although Gaffney et al (2011) considered that it could belong to a member of the European Eocene genus Neochelys Bergounioux, 1954, this hypothesis was subsequently refuted (see Pérez-García and de Lapparent de Broin, 2015). Thus, its attribution to Erymnochelyini, proposed by Lapparent de Broin (2000), was confirmed, but the definition of a new genus for it has not been carried out so far (Pérez-García and de Lapparent de Broin, 2015;, 2021. The second species is "Podocnemis" aegyptiaca Andrews, 1900, from the early Miocene of Egypt.…”

“…Although the presence of Erymnochelyini is known in the African record from the Upper Cretaceous (Gaffney and Forster, 2003;, 2021, no genus of this lineage has been established on that continent at levels older than the latest Miocene (see fig. 1 in .…”

“…These specimens correspond to those previously known as well as to several unpublished. Thus, the shells of both taxa are figured in detail, and their characters are here compared with those of the other members of Erymnochelyini, a lineage for which information on the shell has markedly improved in recent years , 2021Pérez-García and Chapman, 2017;Pérez-García and Smith, 2017;Georgalis et al, 2020). Both "Podocnemis" fajumensis and "Podocnemis" aegyptiaca are confirmed here as two valid species, corresponding to Erymnochelyini.…”