A new freshwater basal eucryptodiran turtle from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain

A freshwater turtle from the lithographic limestone of Las Hoyas (Barremian of Cuenca, Spain) is described as a new genus and species of Eucryptodira, Hoyasemys jimenezi. The holotype consists of the skull, lower jaw, carapace, plastron, vertebral column, pectoral and pelvic girdle remains, and foreand hindlimbs. Hoyasemys jimenezi gen. et sp. nov. is characterized by three pairs of blind oblique depressions on the ventral surface of the basisphenoid, and a character combination composed, among others, of the articulation between the fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae through a cotyle in the fourth and a condyle in the fifth, amphicoelous caudal centra, and most digits of manus and pes with three elongated phalanges. This study allows clarification of the systematic position of a species of uncertain affinity often identified as “chelydroid” in appearance. A phylogenetic analysis shows Hoyasemys jimenezi gen. et sp. nov. forms a monophyletic group with Judithemys sukhanovi, Dracochelys bicuspis, Sinemys lens, and Ordosemys leios, collectively the sister group of crown Cryptodira.