The chelonians from the Latest Miocene–Earliest Pliocene localities of Allatini and Pylea (East Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece)

During recent years, our knowledge of fossil turtles from northern Greece has improved, as a result of both the discovery and description of new specimens and the revision of previously published material. The sites of Allatini and Pylea are among the classic Latest Miocene–Earliest Pliocene localities of northern Greece and have produced notable chelonian material. The purpose of this paper is to revise the previously published specimens from these sites and describe a new specimen of a turtle from Allatini. Taken together, these specimens constitute a diverse Macedonian chelonian assemblage, comprising a small tortoise, a large tortoise and a turtle. Our results augment previous knowledge of the composition of the Greek paleochelonofaunas in three main respects: first, they show that Testudo amiatae was not present in the Greek fossil record; second, they bring to light the earliest mention of a giant tortoise in Greece; finally, they provide the most ancient confirmed record of a fossil geoemydid in Greece.