Reptilia - Testudines - Chelidae
The specific epithet (vanegasorum) honors the Vanegas family from the Centro Poblado La Victoria, for their work toward preserving the paleontological heritage of the Tatatoca Desert.
Full reference: E. Cadena, A. Vanegas, C. Jaramillo, J. M. Cottle, and T. A. Johnson. 2020. A new Miocene turtle from Colombia sheds light on the evolutionary history of the extant genus Mesoclemmys Gray, 1873. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e1716777:1-12
Belongs to Mesoclemmys according to E. Cadena et al. 2020
Sister taxa: Mesoclemmys dahli, Mesoclemmys gibba, Mesoclemmys heliostemma, Mesoclemmys hogei, Mesoclemmys nasuta, Mesoclemmys perplexa, Mesoclemmys raniceps, Mesoclemmys tuberculata, Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei, Mesoclemmys zuliae, Ranacephala hogei, Batrachemys heliostemma, Batrachemys tuberculata, Batrachemys dahli, Batrachemys zuliae, Bufocephala vanderhaegei
Type specimen: VPPLT 334, a partial skeleton ( complete plastron, nearly complete carapace missing left peripherals 4 to 6, nearly complete cervicals 4 and 5, left and right pelvic girdle bones, and portion). Its type locality is La Repartidora, which is in a Miocene terrestrial sandstone in the Victoria Formation of Colombia.
Ecology: amphibious piscivore
Distribution: found only at La Repartidora
Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.
Click image to enlarge. Click to access iDigBio record.