Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
3.1
2.4
Journals
Diversity
Special Issues
Palaeoecological Analysis and Diversity of Turtles and Other Reptiles
share announcement

Palaeoecological Analysis and Diversity of Turtles and Other Reptiles

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Phylogeny and Evolution".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 13274

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Adán Pérez-García

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Grupo de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Avda. Esparta s/n, Las Rozas, 28232 Madrid, Spain
Interests: Mesozoic; reptiles; turtles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reptiles are a very successful group of vertebrates, showing a wide morphological disparity. They have adapted to numerous and highly diverse terrestrial and aquatic environments. Thus, many lifestyles have been recognized, including taxa inhabitants of arid land regions, but also of oceanic ones. Turtles represent a diverse lineage of reptiles. Since the Late Triassic, they have demonstrated a conservative bauplan, in which the presence of a shell is characteristic. Although several groups of turtles are part of the extant biodiversity, the fossil record shows many others that are currently extinct. Turtles are one of the best represented tetrapod lineages in the vertebrate fossil sites. This is due both to its adaptation to different environments and lifestyles, as well as to the robustness of the shell and the plates that compose it. Knowledge about its origin and evolutionary history has increased notably during the last decades and, especially, over this first part of the 21st century. This Special Issue provides an opportunity to contribute new data on the diversity, evolutionary history, lifestyle, and paleoecology of several lineages of reptiles, especially of Testudinata. Particularly welcome are works that analyze the systematics and diversity of extinct taxa, as well as those in which their sensory capabilities and palaeoecological role are studied, by applying traditional or other more innovative methodologies.

Dr. Adán Pérez-García
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Reptiles
  • Turtles
  • Fossil record
  • Systematics
  • Diversity
  • Evolutionary history
  • Lifestyles
  • Sensory capabilities
  • Palaeoecology

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Editorial

Jump to: Research

3 pages, 204 KiB  
Editorial
Palaeoecological Analysis and Diversity of Turtles and Other Reptiles
by Adán Pérez-García
Diversity 2022, 14(2), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14020088 - 27 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2221
Abstract
Reptilia is a very successful monophyletic clade of vertebrates (i [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Palaeoecological Analysis and Diversity of Turtles and Other Reptiles)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

16 pages, 2889 KiB  
Article
New Iguanodon bernissartensis Axial Bones (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Morella, Spain
by José Miguel Gasulla, Fernando Escaso, Iván Narváez, José Luis Sanz and Francisco Ortega
Diversity 2022, 14(2), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14020063 - 18 Jan 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5629
Abstract
Iguanodon bernissartensis is the most frequently and widely cited styracosternan ornithopod in Western Europe during the Early Cretaceous, although some of these assignments likely need to be revised to establish the true distribution of the taxon. Here, we describe a new specimen of [...] Read more.
Iguanodon bernissartensis is the most frequently and widely cited styracosternan ornithopod in Western Europe during the Early Cretaceous, although some of these assignments likely need to be revised to establish the true distribution of the taxon. Here, we describe a new specimen of I. bernissartensis from the upper Barremian of the Iberian Peninsula. Based on the unique combination of shared characters, the new specimen from the Arcillas de Morella Formation at Morella locality (Castellón, Spain) can be confidently referred to Iguanodon bernissartensis. These characters include parallel-sided anterior and posterior margins of the dorsal and the caudal neural spines as well as the presence of a ventral keel in the posterior dorsal centra and a broad ventral sulcus in the midline of the central surface of the most posterior sacral vertebrae. This new evidence of Iguanodon bernissartensis reinforces the knowledge about styracosternan ornithopods as the most frequently recorded dinosaur group in the Arcillas de Morella Formation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Palaeoecological Analysis and Diversity of Turtles and Other Reptiles)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

10 pages, 1108 KiB  
Article
Shell Anomalies in the European Aquatic Stem Turtle Pleurosternon bullockii (Paracryptodira, Pleurosternidae)
by Andrea Guerrero and Adán Pérez-García
Diversity 2021, 13(11), 518; https://doi.org/10.3390/d13110518 - 22 Oct 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2020
Abstract
The uppermost Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous stem turtle Pleurosternon bullockii is the pleurosternid (Testudinata, Paracryptodira) known by the largest number of specimens worldwide, composing the largest European collection of Lower Cretaceous complete and partial shells for a turtle taxon. The availability of numerous [...] Read more.
The uppermost Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous stem turtle Pleurosternon bullockii is the pleurosternid (Testudinata, Paracryptodira) known by the largest number of specimens worldwide, composing the largest European collection of Lower Cretaceous complete and partial shells for a turtle taxon. The availability of numerous specimens as well as their generally good preservation allowed for recent detailed characterization of the shell of this species, including states that are variable at the intraspecific level (individual variability, sexual dimorphism, and ontogenetic development). However, extreme cases of morphological variation corresponding to anomalies have not been addressed in detail, neither for P. bullockii nor for any other member of Paracryptodira. In this context, the study of several shell anomalies in P. bullockii is carried out here. Fourteen specimens showing anomalies are recognized and examined here to determine the frequency and distribution of these shell anatomical deviations. All these anomalies are described and figured. The morphogenetic cause of each of them is discussed. As a consequence, a relatively broad spectrum of anomalies is reported for P. bullockii. None of the anomalies seem to present negative consequences for vital activities of the specimens since none compromised the main functions of the shell. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Palaeoecological Analysis and Diversity of Turtles and Other Reptiles)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

27 pages, 7883 KiB  
Article
Neuroanatomical Study and Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of the Skull of a Bothremydid Turtle (Pleurodira) Based on the European Eocene Tartaruscola teodorii
by Marcos Martín-Jiménez and Adán Pérez-García
Diversity 2021, 13(7), 298; https://doi.org/10.3390/d13070298 - 30 Jun 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2293
Abstract
Bothremydidae is a successful lineage of pleurodiran turtles that lived from the Cretaceous to the Paleogene, and are found in most continents of both Laurasia and Gondwana. Despite numerous known cranial remains of this clade, no study on the complete neuroanatomical reconstruction of [...] Read more.
Bothremydidae is a successful lineage of pleurodiran turtles that lived from the Cretaceous to the Paleogene, and are found in most continents of both Laurasia and Gondwana. Despite numerous known cranial remains of this clade, no study on the complete neuroanatomical reconstruction of any of its representatives has been published so far. Tartaruscola teodorii is a French lower Eocene member of Foxemydina (Bothremydini), known by two skulls. It is one of the few bothremydids identified in the Cenozoic record of Europe. The present study includes the complete three-dimensional reconstruction of each of the cranial bones of both the holotype and the paratype of T. teodorii, increasing the anatomical information about this species. The virtual reconstruction of its neuroanatomical structures is presented here, including the cranial cavity, nerves, nasal cavity, inner ears, and carotid arteries. This analysis is the first detailed neuroanatomical study performed for a member of Bothremydidae. In addition, the virtual reconstruction of the neuroanatomical structures of some extant taxa belonging to several pleurodiran lineages (Chelidae, Pelomedusidae and Podocnemididae), are also carried out and analyzed, so that the comparative framework for Pleurodira is remarkably improved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Palaeoecological Analysis and Diversity of Turtles and Other Reptiles)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop