Literaturdatenbank
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Pérez García, A. (2012). Las tortugas mesozoicas de la peninsula ibérica. Unpublished thesis , Universidad Complutense, Madrid.
Added by: Admin (06 Jan 2014 18:25:07 UTC) |
| Resource type: Thesis/Dissertation BibTeX citation key: anon2012.15512 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises, Systematik - taxonomy Creators: Pérez García Publisher: Universidad Complutense (Madrid) |
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| Abstract |
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Turtles are a group of reptiles with a characteristic bauplan that is easily distinguishable from that of other vertebrates. With a record that ranges from the Late Triassic to the present, turtles are a very diverse group, with representatives adapted to many habitats, including marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Although several turtles taxa have been identified in the European Mesozoic record, the knowledge of many is limited. Many of these turtles, names more than a century ago, have barely been reviewed. For this reason, few European Mesozoic taxa have been included in global phylogenetic hypothesis of turtles and the systematic position of many is controversial. The fossil record of turtles is relatively abundant in the Iberian Peninsula and, in particular, in the outcrops corresponding to the upper half of the Mesozoic, between the Upper Jurassic and the Upper Cretaceous. However, the level of knowledge about the diversity represented, and the paleobiology of the different groups are limited. Almost all determinations that have been performed can be found in faunal lists for which the study of turtle remains was not the main objective and only few identification have been made at specific level. In fact, although turtles are one of the better represented groups of vertebrates in Mesozoic deposits, much of their record has not been published. A systematic study of the Iberian Mesozoic chelonians, however, may help improve the knowledge of other European taxa hitherto poorly known. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the abundant record of Mesozoic turtles from the Iberian Peninsula. For this purpose, all references to Iberian Mesozoic turtles were collected and analyzed. In addition, abundant new material was studied. A high percentage of this material was found in the last 25 years. Representatives of groups typical of Laurasia and Gondwana were identified, as well as representatives endemic to Europe and Iberia. This study is divided into four sections, in which the Upper Jurassic, Lower Cretaceous, Upper Cretaceous, and Paleocene record is analyzed. Each of these sections is preceded by an introduction that summarizes the most relevant information on each of the analyzed intervals. This summary allows better understanding the succession of turtle taxa from the Upper Jurassic to the Paleocene in Europe and, more specifically, on the Iberian Peninsula
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