Chelus

For the ancient Greek lyre, see Chelys.

Chelus Temporal range: Miocene–recent[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Chelus fimbriatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Subfamily:	Chelinae
Genus:	Chelus Duméril, 1805[2]

Chelus is a genus of large freshwater turtles found in tropical South America. Formerly considered to be a monotypic genus,^[3] it now consists of two extant species after Chelus orinocensis was identified in 2020 from a genetic analysis.^[4]

Evolution

Fossils of the extinct †C. colombianus have been found in Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil, including a skull dating to the early Miocene (~ 16 m.y.) of the Castilletes Formation, Cocinetas Basin, in Colombia. The fossil shows that the skull morphology of Chelus has been almost unchanged since the Miocene.^[5][6]

Species

There are two extant recognized species in this genus^[3][7] and one extinct species:^[1]

• Chelus fimbriatus – Amazon mata mata
• Chelus orinocensis – Orinoco mata mata
• †Chelus colombianus – Columbian mata mata (Early-Late Miocene)^[8][6]

References

1. "Chelus Duméril 1806". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
2. Duméril, A.M.C. 1805. Zoologie Analytique, ou Méthode Naturelle de Classification des Animaux. Paris: Perronneau, 344 pp.
3. Rhodin, Anders G.J.; Inverson, John B.; Roger, Bour; Fritz, Uwe; Georges, Arthur; Shaffer, H. Bradley; van Dijk, Peter Paul; et al. (Turtle Taxonomy Working Group) (2021). Rhodin A. G.J.; Iverson J.B.; van Dijk P.P.; Saumure R.A.; Buhlmann K.A.; Pritchard P.C.H.; Mittermeier R.A. (eds.). "Turtles of the world, 2021 update: Annotated checklist and atlas of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status (9th Ed.)". Chelonian Research Monographs. Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. 9 (8 ed.): 1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. ISBN 978-1-5323-5026-9.
4. Sanchez-Vilaga, Marcelo R.; Prichard, Peter C. H.; Paolillo, Alfredo; Linares, Omar J. (January 1995). "Geographic variation in the matamata turtle, Chelus fimbriatus, with observations on its shell morphology and morphometry" (PDF). Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 1: 292–300.
5. Cadena, Ea; Jaramillo, Ca (2015). "The first fossil skull of Chelus (Pleurodira: Chelidae, Matamata turtle) from the early Miocene of Colombia". Palaeontologia Electronica. doi:10.26879/545. ISSN 1094-8074.
6. Ferreira, Gabriel S.; Rincón, Ascanio D.; Solórzano, Andrés; Langer, Max C. (April 2016). "Review of the fossil matamata turtles: earliest well-dated record and hypotheses on the origin of their present geographical distribution". The Science of Nature. 103 (3–4). doi:10.1007/s00114-016-1355-2. ISSN 0028-1042.
7. Chelus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 16 April 2024.
8. Wood, Roger Conant (1975). "Two new species of Chelus (Testudines: Pleurodira) from the Late Tertiary of northern South America". Breviora. 435: 1–26.