Reptilia - Testudines - Chelydridae
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5AED1223-0AD4-4711-A6BB-7244E31708E2
The name Tavachelydra is derived from the combination chelydra (Greek word khludros which means amphibious serpent) and the morpheme tava referring to one of the names that the Ute or Nuuchiu a Native American people indigenous to the region of discovery use for Pikes Peak (Tav-Kaavi, direct translation Sun Mountain (Briggs, 2010)), which towers over the Corral Bluffs Study Area, having been combined following classical word formation for euphony
Full reference: T. R. Lyson, H. Petermann, S. Bastien, N. Toth, E. Tamez-Galvan, S. M. Sherman, and W. G. Joyce. 2025. A new pan-chelydrid turtle, Tavachelydra stevensoni gen. et sp. nov., from the lower Paleocene (early Danian, Puercan) Corral Bluffs Study Area in the Denver Basin, Colorado. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 144(1):1-18
Parent taxon: Chelydridae according to T. R. Lyson et al. 2025
Sister taxa: Broilia, Broilia robusta, Chelydra, Chelydra argillarum, Chelydra strausi, Chelydrinae, Chelydrops, Chelydropsinae, Chelydropsis, Chelydropsis minax, Emys sansaniensis, Emysaurus meilheuratiae, Hydraspis oeningensis, Leptochelys, Leptochelys braneti, Macrochelys, Planiplastron, Protochelydrinae, Testudo grandis
Subtaxa: Tavachelydra stevensoni
Type: Tavachelydra stevensoni
Ecology: aquatic piscivore
Distribution:
• Paleocene of United States (5: Colorado collections)
Total: 5 collections each including a single occurrence
Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.
Click image to enlarge. Click to access iDigBio record.