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Glyptops

Extinct genus of pleurosternid turtle

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Glyptops is an extinct genus of pleurosternid freshwater turtle known from the Late Jurassic of North America.

01Description

The skull of Glyptops ornatus exhibit adaptions likely for suction feeding.

02Taxonomy

The type species, Glyptops plicatulus, was first described as Compsemys plicatulus by Edward Drinker Cope on the basis of AMNH 6099, a partial shell from the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) aged Morrison Formation of Colorado. In 1890, a partial skull, YPM 1784 (described from Como Bluff, Wyoming), was named Glyptops ornatus by Othniel Charles Marsh. Later, Oliver Perry Hay recognized Compsemys plicatulus and Glyptops ornatus as being from the same species, hence the new combination G. plicatulus. Another Morrison species of Glyptops, G. utahensis, was described from a complete shell (CM 3412) found at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Glyptops later became a wastebasket taxon to refer to isolated shell fragments with a finely sculpted surface texture. The type of Glyptops plicatulus was later judged to be a nomen dubium, due to it lacking any diagnostic characters, and Glyptops ornatus was made to be the only valid species.

The species Glytops caelatus Hay, 1908 was described from the middle Cretaceous (late Aptian-early Albian) Arundel Formation of Maryland. However, it was later dismissed as a nomen dubium based on non-diagnostic remains.

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Glyptops, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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