| Basic info | Taxonomic history | Classification | Included Taxa |
| Morphology | Ecology and taphonomy | External Literature Search | Age range and collections |
Chelonoidis alburyorum
The holotype is on permanent loan to the Florida Museum of Natural History from The National Museum of The Bahamas.
We name this new fossil tortoise in honor of Nancy and Michael Albury of Man of War Cay, The Bahamas, in recognition of their efforts to conserve Sawmill Sink and other unique natural features on and near Great Abaco Island. The Alburys are prominent members of the Abaco Friends of the Environment, and Michael Albury serves as President of the Friends group and a council member of the Bahamas National Trust. Nancy Albury was instrumental in bringing international attention to the Sawmill Sink fossils and serves as Coordinator of the Sawmill Sink Project representing the Bahamian government. She also was responsible for cleaning, preserving, curating, and storing the Sawmill Sink fossils and for most of the photographs used in the description.
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Chelonoidis alburyorum Franz and Franz p. 5 figs. 2-15 |
| 2015 | Chelonoidis alburyorum Rhodin et al. |
| 2018 | Chelonoidis alburyorum Albury et al. |
| 2018 | Chelonoidis alburyorum Vlachos |
| 2020 | Chelonoidis alburyorum Franz et al. |
Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data
|
|
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| F. Franz and S. F. Franz 2009 | We consider the new Bahamian tortoise to be a member of the Neotropical genus Chelonoidis rather than Hesperotestudo or other North American genera for the following reasons. Chelonoidis and C. alburyorum lack a cervical scute, extensive limb and tail armor, and obvious growth annuli. They have a thin-walled shell, neural formula of 4-8-4-8-6 (but showing considerable variation), enlarged entoplastron, enlarged pectoral scute, and an interior entoplastral sculpture (bird face). Additionally, Bahamian and West Indian land tortoises occur with other fossil vertebrates that have biogeographic affinities with the Neotropics. Previous researchers also have allied these fossil tortoises with Neotropical tortoises.
A moderate-sized tortoise (up to 466 mm CL) with an elongate, high-domed, thin-walled shell. Epiplastral shelf absent, gular apices (projections) short and rounded, distinctive entoplastral sculpture, and enlarged pectoral scute. Skull brachycephalic with a strap-like vomer, vaulted palate, undeveloped pedestal for origin of septum, and weak septum-like ridge instead of prominent thin-walled septum as in other Chelonoidis. The jugals are either fused to the maxilla or absent. | |
| E. Vlachos 2018 | Chelonoidis alburyorum can be diagnosed as a member of Chelonoidis based on the characters listed above. Chelonoidis alburyorum is differentiated from other Chelonoidis by the development of an elongate, high-domed, thin-walled shell, brachycephalic skull with a strap-like vomer, vaulted palate, undeveloped pedestal for origin of septum and weak septumlike ridge, and the absence of vertebral gibosities. |