Pliocene and Pleistocene Records of Fossil Turtles from Western Kansas and Oklahoma BY EDWIN C. GALBREATH University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History Volume 1, No. 17, pp. 281-284 August 16, 1948 University of Kansas LAWRENCE 1948 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman; H. H. Lane, Edward H. Taylor Volume 1, No. 17, pp. 281-284 August 16, 1948 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1948 [Union Label] 22-3341 Pliocene and Pleistocene Records of Fossil Turtles from Western Kansas and Oklahoma By EDWIN C. GALBREATH In the vertebrate paleontological collection at the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History there are many fragments of turtles that have been collected, generally in connection with the excavation or recovery of other fossils. The generic identification of this material is possible in many instances, and such identifications give new and important geological and distributional records for genera in existence today. All catalogue numbers refer to the vertebrate paleontological collection in the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. Family KINOSTERNIDAE +Kinosternon+ sp. No. 7729 consists of fragments of marginals, costals, and plastronal elements collected from Edson Quarry, Sherman County, Kansas. The age is middle Pliocene (Hemphillian). No. 7679, consisting of a nuchal, and fragments of marginals, costals, and neurals is from Nye Sink, XI Ranch, Meade County, Kansas, and is of Pleistocene age. Any fossil record of _Kinosternon_ is a welcome find, and these two specimens give new data both as to age and distribution. However, it should be emphasized that these identifications are based on fragments, and are tentative. Family EMYDIDAE +Pseudemys+ sp. No. 5613, Sherman County; 6784, Seward County; and 4728, Meade County, are three of many fragments, mainly elements of the nuchal plate and plastron, that were collected from Edson Quarry, Sherman County, Kansas, and from middle and late Pliocene beds in Seward and Meade counties, Kansas, respectively. The species represented cannot be differentiated from species of _Pseudemys_ living today. Species of _Pseudemys_ are common also in most of the Pleistocene deposits of western Kansas. Family TESTUDINIDAE +Testudo+ sp. In general, two recognizable lines of the genus _Testudo_ existed in western Kansas during early Pliocene to mid-Pleistocene time--a line of large testudinates with a carapace three to four feet long, and one line of smaller tortoises with a rugose carapace approximately six to nine inches in diameter. Hibbard's _Testudo riggsi_ (Hibbard, 1944) is the best known of these smaller turtles. +Gopherus+ sp. No. 5935 is from the Pleistocene of Harper County, Kansas, and No. 7677 is from the early Pleistocene of Beaver County, Oklahoma. Each is composed of costals and neurals which may be referred to this genus. Their size indicates an animal considerably larger than any on record, and probably these specimens represent a new species. Family CHELYDRIDAE +Chelydra+ sp. No. 6821 is the anterior part of a plastron from the Edson Quarry, Sherman County, Kansas. The age is middle Pliocene. This fragment has been listed three times in print, once merely as Chelonia (having reference to the order) (Adams and Martin, 1931), and twice by Hibbard (1934 and 1939) as _Chelonia_ sp. Hibbard's listing was obviously a _lapsus calami_ for _Chelydra_ since he placed the genus in the family Chelydridae. No. 6479 is part of a costal and marginals from Meade County, Kansas. This specimen was associated with _Aenocyon dirus_, and is Pleistocene in age. Family TRIONYCHIDAE +Amyda+ sp. No. 6800 is part of a costal collected in Seward County, Kansas. It is possibly of early Pleistocene age. No. 7568 is part of a carapace from Meade County, Kansas, probably of the same age. LITERATURE CITED ADAMS, L. A., and MARTIN, H. T. 1931. An addition to the Urodele Fauna of Kansas from the lower Pliocene. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 19:289-297, pls. 30-32. HIBBARD, C. W. 1934. Two new genera of Felidae from the middle Pliocene of Kansas. Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 37:239-255, pls. 4-6. 1939. Notes on additional fauna of Edson Quarry of the middle Pliocene of Kansas. Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 42:457-462, 6 figs. 1944. A new land Tortoise, _Testudo riggsi_, from the middle Pliocene of Seward County, Kansas. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 30:71-76, 2 figs. _Transmitted, March 8, 1948._ [] 22-3341 Transcriber's Notes EMphasis Notation _Text_ = Italic +Text+ = Bold --- Provided by LoyalBooks.com ---