Chelus

Chelus is a genus of large freshwater turtles found in tropical South America. Formerly considered to be a monotypic genus, it now consists of two extant species after Chelus orinocensis was identified in 2020 from a genetic analysis.

Chelus

J. Patrick Fischer · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ChelidaePBDB
Diet
piscivorePBDB, for Chelidae
Life habit
amphibious, solitaryPBDB, for Chelidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
freshwaterPBDB, for Chelidae

Time the record covers

At least 37 million years on record.

The record covers at least 37.71 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 66 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 0 of 43 occurrencesPaleocene — about 0 of 43 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 3 of 43 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 1 of 43 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 29 of 43 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 4 of 43 occurrencesPleistocene — about 3 of 43 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences61–58 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences58–56 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences52–49 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences47–45 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences43–40 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 3 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 3 occurrences16–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–9.0 Mya — about 6 occurrences9.0–6.7 Mya — about 6 occurrences6.7–4.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.5–2.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.2–0 Mya — about 6 occurrences37.71 Mya11.7 ka67 Mya0 Mya

43 occurrences of Chelus on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

43 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

12 formations

Solimões — 10.13°S, 67.81°WSolimões — 9.05°S, 68.77°WSolimões — 8.42°S, 70.51°WSolimões — 8.79°S, 67.47°WSolimões — 10.98°S, 69.71°WSolimões — 10.94°S, 69.52°WSolimões — 10.94°S, 69.31°WSolimões — 9.13°S, 72.70°WSolimões — 9.20°S, 72.72°WSolimões — 8.82°S, 72.82°WSolimões — 9.02°S, 72.72°WSolimões — 8.82°S, 67.58°WSolimões — 10.98°S, 68.73°WSolimões — 9.13°S, 68.68°WSolimões — 8.87°S, 67.78°WSolimões — 7.85°S, 72.67°WCastilletes — 11.95°N, 71.33°WCastilletes — 11.95°N, 71.32°WCastilletes — 11.85°N, 71.37°WSolimoes — 10.12°S, 66.88°WSolimoes — 10.94°S, 69.34°WVillavieja — 3.22°N, 75.17°WVillavieja — 3.78°N, 75.18°WUrumaco — 11.25°N, 70.27°WUrumaco — 11.22°N, 70.24°WPebas — 3.74°S, 73.25°WPebas — 4.01°S, 73.15°WCastillo — 10.37°N, 70.07°WSarmiento — 45.31°S, 67.74°WBarzaloza — 4.41°N, 74.70°WCaujarao — 11.50°N, 69.51°WSan Gregorio — 11.30°N, 70.24°WIpururo — 10.56°S, 73.13°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Chelus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Chelus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Chelus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

211 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 34 sites for Chelus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

16 references

Each of the 43 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 4 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Chelus

Credit
J. Patrick Fischer
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Chelus fimbriata · zmb:Herp:9088

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itChelidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Duméril 1806