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Tavachelydra
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
It was assigned to Chelydridae by Lyson et al. (2025).
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Tavachelydra Lyson et al. |
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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.
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| T. R. Lyson et al. 2025 | Tavachelydra stevensoni can be diagnosed as a member of Chelydroidea (i.e., the clade consisting of Kinosternoidea and Chelydridae) based on the presence of a reduced cruciform plastron, strap-like epiplastra that cover the lateral margins of the hyoplastra, absence of extragular scales, absence of pectoral scales, absence of a midline contact between the abdominal scales, and less than four inframarginal scales; and as a representative of Pan-Chelydridae based on the presence of true rib-like costiform processes (sensu Joyce, 2007) that are not completely embedded in bone and that cross peripheral I and variably terminate in peripheral II or III on the visceral shell surface, the presence of a low carapace formed by thin neurals and costals, presence of intergular scales, strap-like xiphiplastra that cover the lateral margins of the hypoplastra, and an anal scale that is restricted to the posterior portions of the hypoplastra |