Peltocephalus Dumeril and Bibron, 1835

Gaffney, Eugene S., Meylan, Peter A., Wood, Roger C., Simons, Elwyn & De Almeida Campos, Diogenes, 2011, Evolution Of The Side-Necked Turtles: The Family Podocnemididae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2011 (350), pp. 1-237 : 41

Peltocephalus Dumeril and Bibron, 1835

TYPE SPECIES: Emys tracaxa Spix (1824) 5 Emys dumeriliana Schweigger (1812) , by monotypy fide Iverson (1992).

INCLUDED SPECIES: Peltocephalus dumerilianus .

DISTRIBUTION: Northern South America.

DIAGNOSIS: A podocnemidid known from the skull and postcrania; skull relatively high and narrow in contrast to Bauruemys ; elongate, pinched snout in contrast to all podocnemidids except tribe Stereogenyini ; orbits facing laterally in contrast to Podocnemis ; interorbital groove such as found in Podocnemis absent; temporal emargination less than in Podocnemis ; parietal-quadratojugal contact long; cheek emargination absent; postorbital large in contrast to Podocnemis ; medial expansion of triturating surface, median maxillary ridge, present; accessory ridge or ridges present in triturating surface; vomer absent; fossa precolumellaris shallow as in Podocnemis expansa and in contrast to deep as in Erymnochelys ; foramen jugulare posterius closed; jugal-quadrate contact present in contrast to all other podocnemidids except Erymnochelys and UCMP 42008; cavum pterygoidei with large anterior opening and foramen cavernosum in roof; horizontal occipital shelf absent; chorda tympani enclosed in processus retroarticularis.

Postcrania with cervical centra saddle shaped; nuchal bone width greater than length; six neurals extending to costal six; first neural four sided; axillary buttress reaches peripheral three in contrast to Erymnochelys ; axillary musk duct in buttress not in bridge; pectoral scales do not contact mesoplastra, but do contact entoplastron and epiplastra.

DISCUSSION: Previous literature on this species can be found in Iverson (1992). See Erymnochelys discussion for original Baur (1890) diagnoses of Recent genera.