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Apalone (softshell turtle)
Taxonomy
Apalone was named by Rafinesque (1832). It is extant. It was considered monophyletic by Meylan (1987).
It was assigned to Apalonina by Meylan (1987) and Hutchison (1996); to Trionychini by Weisrock and Janzen (2000); to Trionychinae by Holroyd and Hutchison (2002), van Dijk et al. (2014) and Valdes et al. (2017); and to Trionychidae by Hutchison (1992), Frank and Ramus (1996), Eaton et al. (1999), May (2019) and Weems (2023).
It was assigned to Apalonina by Meylan (1987) and Hutchison (1996); to Trionychini by Weisrock and Janzen (2000); to Trionychinae by Holroyd and Hutchison (2002), van Dijk et al. (2014) and Valdes et al. (2017); and to Trionychidae by Hutchison (1992), Frank and Ramus (1996), Eaton et al. (1999), May (2019) and Weems (2023).
Species
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1832 | Apalone Rafinesque |
| 1987 | Apalone Meylan |
| 1992 | Apalone Hutchison |
| 1996 | Apalone Frank and Ramus |
| 1996 | Apalone Hutchison p. 339 |
| 1999 | Apalone Eaton et al. |
| 2000 | Apalone Weisrock and Janzen p. 153 |
| 2002 | Apalone Holroyd and Hutchison p. 181 |
| 2014 | Apalone van Dijk et al. |
| 2017 | Apalone Valdes et al. p. 121 |
| 2019 | Apalone May |
| 2023 | Apalone Weems |
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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.
G. Apalone Rafinesque 1832 [softshell turtle]
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Subg. Apalone (Platypeltis) Fitzinger 1835
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Platypeltis ferox Schneider 1783 [Florida softshell turtle]
†Platypeltis sternbergi Wiman 1933
†Apalone amorense Valdes et al. 2017
Apalone ferox Schneider 1783 [Florida softshell turtle]
†Apalone lima Cope 1869
Apalone mutica LeSueur 1827 [smooth softshell turtle]
Apalone spinifera LeSueur 1827 [spiny softshell turtle]
†Apalone trionychoides Cope 1872
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| P. A. Meylan 1987 | Members of the subtribe Apalonina in which the location of the posteriormost neural reversal is highly variable but occurs at or anterior to neural six and in which there is marked sexual dimorphism. | |
| N. Valdes et al. 2017 | Apalone amorense is diagnosed as a member of Trionychini by the presence of eight or fewer neurals (N1–8) and strong emargination of the dorsal margin of the apertura narium externa. It is diagnosed as a member of Apalonina by the frequent absence of the eighth costal pair (C8). |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: f = family, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Carroll 1988, Ernst and Barbour 1989 | |||||
Age range
Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Late/Upper Maastrichtian to the top of the Holocene or 70.60000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 66.0 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 66.0 Ma
Collections (44 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late/Upper Maastrichtian | USA (South Dakota) | Apalone sp. (224484) | |
| Bridgerian | USA (Wyoming) | Platypeltis sp. (16270 70257) | |
| Early/Lower Uintan | USA (Utah) | Platypeltis sp. (186888) | |
| Late/Upper Uintan | Canada (Saskatchewan) | Apalone sp. (16626) | |
| Duchesnean | USA (Utah) | Apalone sp. (16877) | |
| Orellan | USA (South Dakota) | Apalone sp. (163487) | |
| Late/Upper Oligocene | USA (Virginia) | Apalone lima (167203) | |
| Burdigalian | USA (Delaware) | Apalone lima (18579) | |
| Burdigalian | USA (New Jersey) | Trionyx lima (18587) | |
| Barstovian | USA (Texas) | Apalone sp. (18629) | |
| Early/Lower Barstovian | USA (Florida) | Apalone sp. (18538) | |
| Clarendonian | USA (Texas) | Apalone sp. (18611 18623) Trionychidae indet. (18610 18640) | |
| Late/Upper Clarendonian | USA (Florida) | Trionyx ferox (18554) | |
| Tortonian | USA (Virginia) | Apalone sp. (152251) | |
| Tortonian | USA (Maryland) | Apalone ferox (219172 221449) | |
| Hemphillian | USA (Alabama) | Apalone spinifera (176945) | |
| Hemphillian | Costa Rica (Puntarenas) | Apalone sp. (144596) | |
| Hemphillian | USA (Florida) | Apalone sp. (18564) | |
| Late/Upper Hemphillian | USA (Nebraska) | Apalone sp. (18126) Apalone sp., Apalone spinifera (18359) | |
| Zanclean | USA (North Carolina) | Apalone sp. (52582) | |
| Blancan | USA (Florida) | Apalone ferox (113275) | |
| Pleistocene | USA (Florida) | Apalone sp. (206227) | |
| Irvingtonian | USA (Pennsylvania) | Trionyx muticus (20354) | |
| Irvingtonian | USA (Kansas) | Trionyx spinifer (20390) | |
| Irvingtonian | USA (Florida) | Apalone ferox (20400 20402 58089) Apalone sp. (26550) | |
| Rancholabrean | USA (Florida) | Apalone ferox (20440) Trionyx ferox (20491) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene | USA (Michigan) | Trionyx spinifer (200325) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene | USA (Florida) | Apalone ferox (154804) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial) | USA (Alabama) | Trionyx sp., Trionyx spiniferus (84181) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial) | USA (Florida) | Apalone ferox (20650) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial) | USA (Georgia) | Apalone ferox (20613) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene (glacial) | USA (Florida) | Trionyx ferox (154921) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene | USA (Texas) | Apalone spinifera (230753) | |
| Holocene | USA (Georgia) | Trionyx ferox (152113) |