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{{Short description|Extinct genus of turtles}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Kimmeridgian|latest=Tithonian}}
| image = Thalassemys_bruntrutana.jpg
| image_caption = Fossil of ''T. bruntrutana''
| display_parents = 2
| parent_authority = Zittell, [[1889 in paleontology|1889]]
| taxon = Thalassemys
| authority = Rütimeyer, [[1873 in paleontology|1873]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision_ref = <ref name="anquetin2017"/>
| subdivision = *'''''Thalassemys hugii''''' Rütimeyer, 1873 ([[type species|type]])
*'''''Thalassemys marina''''' Fraas, [[1903 in paleontology|1903]]
*'''''Thalassemys heusseri''''' Oertel, [[1924 in paleontology|1924]] ([[nomen dubium|dubious]])
*'''''Thalassemys bruntrutana''''' Püntener ''et al.'', [[2015 in paleontology|2015]]
| synonyms_ref = <ref name="anquetin2017"/>
| synonyms = *''Thalassemys gresslyi'' Rütimeyer, 1873
*''[[Eurysternum]] ignoratum'' Bräm, 1965
*''Eurysternum marinum'' (Fraas, 1903) Maisch, [[2001 in paleontology|2001]]
}}

'''''Thalassemys''''' is a [[genus]] of [[extinct]] [[thalassochelydia]]n [[turtle]] from the [[Late Jurassic]] of western and central [[Europe]]. While the genus was originally named by Rütimeyer in [[1859 in paleontology|1859]] for a large [[carapace]] and other associated fragments from the late [[Kimmeridgian]] of the [[Reuchenette Formation]] of [[Switzerland]], although the taxon was not validly named until [[1873 in paleontology|1873]] when Rütimeyer designated the type species '''''T. hugii'''''. Rütimeyer also named ''T. gresslyi'' from the Reunchenette Formation in the same paper as ''T. hugii'', but it cannot be differentiated from the type material of ''T. hugii'' and is therefore a junior synonym. A large assemblage of shell and postcranial material from the Reunchenette was named as a species of ''[[Eurysternum]]'', ''E. ignoratum'', by Bräm in [[1965 in paleontology|1965]]. While originally distinguished based on the presence of fontanelles on the [[plastron]], the feature was later identified on ''T. hugii'' and ''E. ignoratum'' was designated a junior synonym. Additional material from the [[Kimmeridge Clay]] of the [[United Kingdom]] has also been referred to ''T. hugii''.<ref name="anquetin2017">{{cite journal|last1=Anquetin|first1=J.|last2=Püntener|first2=C.|last3=Joyce|first3=W.G.|year=2017|title=A Review of the Fossil Record of Turtles of the Clade Thalassochelydia|journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History|volume=58|issue=2|pages=317–369|doi=10.3374/014.058.0205|bibcode=2017BPMNH..58..317A |s2cid=31091127|url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/305668/files/joy_rfr.pdf}}</ref>

The second valid species of ''Thalassemys'' is '''''T. marina''''', named in [[1903 in paleontology|1903]] by Fraas for a partial carapace and half a plastron from the late Kimmeridgian deposits of [[Schnaitheim]], [[Germany]]. It was suggested to be a species of the related taxon ''[[Eurysternum]]'' by Maisch in [[2001 in paleontology|2001]], who referred additional material from Schnaitheim to the species. In [[2003 in paleontology|2003]], it was suggested that ''T. marina'' was a synonym of the related turtle ''[[Palaeomedusa]]'', which was based on an unknown but restored region of the original carapace.<ref name="anquetin2017"/>

'''''Thalassemys heusseri''''' was validly named in [[1924 in paleontology|1924]] by Oertel for a partial carapace from the Kimmeridgian or [[Tithonian]] of [[Holzen]], Germany, a different spelling from the invalid name "T. heuseri" he used previously in [[1815 in paleontology|1815]]. As the type specimen was lost, the species cannot be distinguished from others of the genus, and is therefore a ''[[nomen dubium]]''.<ref name="anquetin2017"/>

In addition to ''E. ignoratum'', Bräm also named the species ''Thalassemys moseri'' in 1965 for a partial carapace from the Reunchenette Formation. An additional shell and also a skull were referred to the taxon in [[1980 in paleontology|1980]] by Rieppel, who suggested that the species should be included in ''[[Plesiochelys]]'' rather than ''Thalassemys''. This skull was given the name ''[[Jurassichelon]]'' in [[2015 in paleontology|2015]], leaving the species ''T. moseri'', based on other material, in an uncertain position. Further assessment of the material by Anquetin and colleagues in [[2017 in paleontology|2017]] concluded that ''T. moseri'' was distinct from the species ''J. oleronensis'' named for the skull, but was representative of the same genus.<ref name="anquetin2017"/>

'''''Thalassemys bruntrutana''''' was described in 2015 by Püntener and colleagues for an almost complete carapace and plastron from a lower member of the Reunchenette Formation than other species, with referred material also from the British [[Kimmeridge Clay]] of the [[Isle of Purbeck]].<ref name="anquetin2017"/>

While the genus ''Thalassemys'' was placed in the family Thalassemydidae, it represents the only definitive member of the family due to the uncertain relationships of other members of [[Thalassochelydia]], primarily due to the lack of cranial material in ''Thalassemys''.<ref name="anquetin2017"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*{{cite journal|last=Rieppel|first=O.|year=1980|title=The skull of the Upper Jurassic cryptodire turtle ''Thalassemys'', with a reconsideration of the chelonian braincase|journal=Palaeontogr. Abt. A|volume=171|pages=105–140}}

{{Pantestudines}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7709531}}

[[Category:Thalassochelydia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric turtle genera]]
[[Category:Kimmeridgian genera]]
[[Category:Late Jurassic turtles]]
[[Category:Late Jurassic reptiles of Europe]]
[[Category:Jurassic England]]
[[Category:Fossils of England]]
[[Category:Jurassic Germany]]
[[Category:Fossils of Germany]]
[[Category:Jurassic Switzerland]]
[[Category:Fossils of Switzerland]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1873]]

Thalassemys - Revision history

imported>Citation bot: Added bibcode. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:Prehistoric turtle genera | #UCB_Category 8/224