A new freshwater turtle (Reptilia, Pleurodira, Podocnemidae) from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Minas Gerais, Brazil

The fossil fauna of freshwater turtles from the Bauru Basin, south central Brazil, includes only podocnemids (Pleurodira, Pelomedusoides). A new genus and species, Cambaremys langertoni n. gen., n. sp., represents a taxon in the stem-lineage to the crown-Podocnemidae. This phylogenetic position is given by the joint presence of a plesiomorphically expanded coracoid and an apomorphic cranially displaced caudal margin of the pectoral scute. Its holotype and only specimen was collected from Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) rocks of the Serra da Galga Member (Marília Formation, Bauru Group), in the area of Uberaba, Minas Gerais. Although no autapomorphic features were recognised for Cambaremys langertoni n. gen., n. sp., the taxon is distinct from all other South American Cretaceous podocnemids based on an unique suite of shell features, namely: a narrow nuchal plate, seven neural plates, a second neural plate that contacts the first costal plates, a pectoro-abdominal sulcus that does not penetrate the mesoplastra, and xiphiplastra with a deep anal notch and subtriangular ischiadic sutures.