Basic info Taxonomic history Classification Included Taxa
Morphology Ecology and taphonomy External Literature Search Age range and collections

Chelonoidis gringorum

Reptilia - Testudines - Testudinidae

Taxonomy
Testudo gringorum was named by Simpson (1942). Its type specimen is Amer. Mus. No. 3366 (Fossil Reptile Catalogue), a partial shell (plastron and much of carapace), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Testudo gringorum Type Locality, which is in a Miocene fluvial-deltaic sandstone in Argentina.

It was recombined as Geochelone (Chelonoides) gringorum by Auffenberg (1971); it was recombined as Geochelone (Chelonoidis) gringorum by Auffenberg (1974); it was recombined as Geochelone gringorum by Crumly (1982); it was recombined as Chelonoidis gringorum by de Broin and de la Fuente (1993), de la Fuente (1994), de la Fuente and Vucetich (1998), Franz and Franz (2009), de la Fuente et al. (2014), Vlachos and Rabi (2018), de la Fuente et al. (2018), Oriozabala et al. (2018) and Vizcaíno et al. (2022).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1942Testudo gringorum Simpson p. 1
1971Geochelone (Chelonoides) gringorum Auffenberg p. 115
1974Geochelone (Chelonoidis) gringorum Auffenberg p. 149
1982Geochelone gringorum Crumly p. 215
1993Chelonoidis gringorum de Broin and de la Fuente p. 202
1994Chelonoidis gringorum de la Fuente p. 110
1998Chelonoidis gringorum de la Fuente and Vucetich p. 213
2009Chelonoidis gringorum Franz and Franz p. 28
2014Chelonoidis gringorum de la Fuente et al. p. 44
2018Chelonoidis gringorum Oriozabala et al. p. 34 figs. 2-10
2018Chelonoidis gringorum Vlachos and Rabi p. 663
2018Chelonoidis gringorum de la Fuente et al. p. 276
2022Chelonoidis gringorum Vizcaíno et al.

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
RankNameAuthor
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
Sauropsida
classReptilia
Testudinata(Oppel 1811)
orderTestudinesBatsch 1788
suborderCryptodira
Pantestudinoidea
superfamilyTestudinoidea
familyTestudinidaeBatsch 1788
tribeGeochelonini
genusChelonoidis()
speciesgringorum()

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.

Chelonoidis gringorum Simpson 1942
show all | hide all
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
G. G. Simpson 1942As far as preserved, a characteristic Testudo, sensu stricto. Type relatively small for this genus (possibly young). Uncrushed carapace probably not very high. Sculpture slight, no prominent bosses or marginal projections. Sulci shallow. Anterior border of carapace somewhat flattened but only slightly turned upward. Nuchal absent. Testudinine alternating-wedge arrangement of costa] plates moderately developed. Marginals longer in vertical-transverse than in anteroposterior dimensions. Gulars separate, elongate, extending onto entoplastron posteriorly. Epiplastral lip more than twice as wide as long, strongly projecting and bifid anteriorly, emarginate at gular-humeral sulcus, border evenly convex posterior to this. Humeralpectoral sulcus almost straight and transverse medially, turning abruptly anteroexternally in lateral part, crossing mid-line at posterior edge of entoplastron. Width of medial part of pectoral scutes about one-fifth that of abdominals. Posterior notch of plastron well developed, about four times as wide as deep.
W. Auffenberg 1971T. gringorum may be diagnosed as: a medium-sized species of land tortoise possessing a depressed, oval carapace without vertebral bosses, only slightly elongated from above, and not concave or straight on sides; peripherals not denticulated or serrated (at least anteriorly); no nuchal scute; pleurals alternately wide and narrower distally; neural formula 6-6-4-8-?-?-?-4;f irst suprapygal embracing second, with the latter crossed by the lower sulcus of the last vertebral scute. Plastron wide, with broad, convex borders, flat below with relatively short anterior lobe, epiplastral projection short, slightly convex both dorsally and ventrally, with a deep notch anteriorly; gular sulcus crossing entoplastron.
M. S. de la Fuente 1994(translated from Spanish): Terrestrial turtle of medium size with an oval carapace which is different from that in other species of the genus Chelonoidis included in the carbonaria group (Ch. hesterna, Ch. carbonaria, and Ch. denticulata). Differs from Ch. chilensis in the hiding of the inguinal scutes in ventral view of the plastron, the absence of keels on the peripheral plates of the dorsal carapace and the great expansion of the posterior process of the ischium.
C. Oriozabala et al. 2018Terrestrial turtles of middle size and member of the Neotropical Chelonoidis based on the absence of cervical scute. Differs from tortoises included in the carbonaria group (C. hesterna, C. carbonaria, and C. denticulata) by the presence of an oval outline of the shell (de la Fuente 1994).Chelonoidis gringorum differs from C. chilensis in the absence of contact between femoral and inguinal scutes in ventral view, absence of keels in peripheral plates and a well-developed expansion of the posterior process of the ischium (de la Fuente 1994)
M. S. de la Fuente et al. 2018Small to middle-sized tortoise, member of Testudinidae based on the following characters: alternating pattern of the neural/costal associations; well-developed plastral buttresses that are in clear contact with the costal bones; fusion of twelfth marginal scutes; presence of a well-developed epiplastral lip. Member of Chelonoidis based on the absence of cervical scute. Member of the chilensis group on the usually thin shell, being broad and depressed with lateral convex sides, a wide posterior plastral lobe, and anteroposteriorly narrow inguinal scar. It differs from Ch. chilensis by the hiding of the inguinal scute on ventral side of the plastron, the presence of an inguinal groove ventrally located between the basis of posterior plastral lobe and the hypoplastral inguinal pillar of the bridge, and by the expansion of the posterior process of the ischium.