Taxonomic reassessment of the Pliocene pond turtle Melanochely mossoczyi wetterauensis from the Wetterau brown coal mine in Hesse, Germany
Keywords:
Germany, Melanochely, Pliocene, Taxonomic reassessmentAbstract
This article provides an extensive description of Melanochely mossoczyi wetterauensis based on a re-examination of the holotype specimen that overviews the taxonomic characteristics of late Pliocene turtle remains discovered from the Wetterau-Wolfersheim lignite deposit in Hesse, Germany. The original material was taken from the former "Natural Science Collection" in Meiningen (1950-1960) as an example of exchange material and is currently preserved in the "Natural History Museum" Schleußingen, Thuringia, Germany, as the holotype "MSB IB k 314". This fossil has previously been scientifically described as a genus Geoemyda taxa and is reviewed here again for reexamination. This taxon was found to be closely related to the European taxon Melanochely mossoczyi (formerly Geoemyda mossoczyi) and was renamed here, after taxonomic reassessments.
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