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Floridemys hurdi

Reptilia - Testudines - Testudinidae

Taxonomy
Floridemys hurdi was named by Weems and George (2013). Its type specimen is CMM 4666 (holotype), a partial shell (nuchal), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Chesapeake Bay (Upper Calvert), which is in a Burdigalian/Langhian transition zone/lower shoreface claystone in the Calvert Formation of Maryland.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Vlachos (2018).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2013Floridemys hurdi Weems and George
2023Floridemys hurdi Weems

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Life
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
RankNameAuthor
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
Sauropsida
classReptilia
Testudinata(Oppel 1811)
orderTestudinesBatsch 1788
suborderCryptodira
Pantestudinoidea
superfamilyTestudinoidea
familyTestudinidaeBatsch 1788
genusFloridemysWilliams 1950
specieshurdi

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.

Floridemys hurdi Weems and George 2013
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
R. E. Weems 2023Vlachos (2018) considered Floridemys hurdi to be a nomen dubium on the grounds that a single nuchal element was insufficient to diagnose a new species and because of “the unknown provenance of the specimen.” Although the specimen was a beach find, the adjacent cliff includes only SZs 4–12, which specifically represent the lower half of the Plum Point Member of the Calvert Formation. This stratigraphic interval and specific locality hardly constitute an “unknown provenance.” Similarly, the strikingly different conformation of the nuchal scute in Floridemys hurdi in comparison to the nuchal scute of Floridemys nana provides a clear difference between these two taxa that is reinforced by the newly discovered specimen of F. hurdi, which has a nuchal scute very similar in conformation and size to that of the type specimen of F. hurdi (Figure 1.19) and unlike that in F. nana.