POSTPRINT This is a postprint of the following peer-reviewed publication: Anquetin J, Püntener C, Joyce W. 2017. A review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Thalassochelydia. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 58(2): 317–369. DOI of the peer-reviewed publication: 10.3374/014.058.0205 A review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Thalassochelydia Jérémy Anquetin1*, Christian Püntener2, Walter G. Joyce3 1JURASSICA Museum, 2900 Porrentruy, Switzerland and Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland—email:
[email protected] 2Section d’archéologie et paléontologie, Office de la culture, République et Canton du Jura, 2900 Porrentruy, Switzerland— email:
[email protected] 3Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland—email:
[email protected] *Corresponding author Abstract The Late Jurassic (Oxfordian to Tithonian) fossil record of Europe and South America has yielded a particularly rich assemblage of aquatic pan-cryptodiran turtles that are herein tentatively hypothesized to form a monophyletic group named Thalassochelydia. Thalassochelydians were traditionally referred to three families, Eurysternidae, Plesiochelyidae, and Thalassemydidae, but the current understanding of phylogenetic relationships is insufficient to support the monophyly of either group. Given their pervasive usage in the literature, however, these three names are herein retained informally. Relationships with marine turtles from the Cretaceous have been suggested in the past, but these hypotheses still lack strong character support. Thalassochelydians are universally found in near-shore marine sediments and show adaptations to aquatic habitats, but isotopic evidence hints at a broad spectrum of specializations ranging from freshwater aquatic to fully marine.