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Testudo hellenica

Osteichthyes - Testudines - Testudinidae

Discussion

Etymology. Named after the Greek word (hellenic, adj. of Hellas Greece) meaning from Greece. The name of this new species was already mentioned at the congress communication of the same authors in 2017, but it must be considered as a nomen nudum because the species was not described according to the rules of the ICZN code. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3036B41A-88AE4BE5-ADEE-C7F4C11AC0A1

Taxonomy
Testudo hellenica was named by Garcia et al. (2020). Its type specimen is LGPUT RPI-216, a shell (nearly complete carapace with plastron), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Ravin de la Pluie, which is in a Vallesian terrestrial sandstone/gravel in the Nea Messimvria Formation of Greece.

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2020Testudo hellenica Garcia et al.
2021Testudo hellenica Vlachos

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
classOsteichthyes
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
RankNameAuthor
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
Sauropsida
classReptilia
Testudinata(Oppel 1811)
orderTestudinesBatsch 1788
suborderCryptodira
Pantestudinoidea
superfamilyTestudinoidea
familyTestudinidaeBatsch 1788
subfamilyTestudininae
tribeTestudininiBatsch 1788
genusTestudo
specieshellenica

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Testudo hellenica Garcia et al. 2020
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
G. Garcia et al. 2020Species of Testudo s. s. by the hypo-xiphiplastral hinge, characterized by the autapomorphic features of an elongated and quite posteriorly pointed shell shape, with a pentagonal pygal protruding downwards relative to the posterior peripheral border and having a short suture with a peripheral 11, and a lenticular, posteriorly long dorsal epiplastral lip, rounded from side to side and anteriorly to posteriorly convex. Autapomorphies: posterior lobe comprised only by the xiphiplastra with very rounded lateral borders lacking femoro-anal inflexion and with anals slightly medially longer than femorals but without an angular junction of the right and left femoro-anal sulci.
E. Vlachos 2021The presence of the hypo-xiphiplastral hinge clearly places this taxon within crown Testudo. A combination of characters, including the tectiform shape of the carapace, the quite long and rounded epiplastral lip, and the suprapygal configuration with a straight suture between the two suprapygals (see Garcia et al. 2020), supports its distinction within known members of Testudo.