The Turtle Evolution Database (TED) is an online database initially dedicated to fossil turtles from Czechia and Poland, featuring images and 3D models. This database aims to provide comprehensive inf...

Several relatively complete and well-preserved shells of podocnemidid turtles from the Bartonian (late middle Eocene) fossil site of La Solana (Mazaterón locality, Soria province, central Spain), as w...

Taphrosphyini is a diverse and geographically widely distributed lineage of bothremydid pleurodiran turtles. The first neuroanatomical reconstruction of the Paleogene genus of Taphrosphyini Taphrosphy...

Tortoises (Testudinidae) are a clade of turtles highly specialized to terrestrial environments, mainly living in semi-arid conditions. Herein, we present Manouria morla sp. nov., a new species of the genus Manouria, which is considered to be the most basal extant testudinid genus. The studied material comes from the Ahníkov I fossil site, formerly known as Merkur or Merkur-North, located in the Most Basin in NW Bohemia (Czechia), dated to the Early Miocene (Burdigalian, MN 3). Manouria morla sp. nov. is the oldest member of the Manouria lineage, which nowadays inhabits SE Asia only, and therefore its biogeography and plausible European origin are discussed. The specific type of multiplication of plastral scutes in the inguinal region is discussed as a new morphological character diagnostic for the genus. Based on zoological studies, specific environmental requirements of the genus Manouria allow us to use this taxon as a proxy for the paleoclimate reconstruction of the Ahníkov I fossil site which suggests a broadleaf evergreen tropical wet forest. The simplified use of fossil testudinids as a proxy for reconstructing semi-arid palaeoclimate is therefore disproven.

The Late Miocene Gargano “Terre Rosse” in southern Italy has yielded a diverse vertebrate fauna that comprises an array of endemic taxa, including forms characterized by extreme sizes and unique morphologies. We here document new testudinid fossil remains from this insular assemblage. The material comprises a mandible, abundant (though mostly fragmentary) shell remains, appendicular elements, and a few vertebrae, originating from different localities within the Gargano assemblage. Based on its femur morphology, we tentatively refer the Gargano form to Solitudo, a late Neogene and Quaternary insular genus, otherwise known from a few Mediterranean islands. Unfortunately, the incomplete preservation of the trochanters hinders observation of the main diagnostic character of Solitudo, however, the similarities in the femoral head and diaphysis allow an open identification of the Gargano material as cf. Solitudo sp. Still, the Gargano tortoise offers new anatomical information on the Mediterranean insular tortoises. An interesting feature of the few preserved plastral elements is the presence of sulci as distinct raised ridges, a character that has been reported in other insular extant and extinct tortoises as well. The preserved hyoplastron has a medially straight and laterally concave humeropectoral sulcus and a wide axillary scute, pointing to some resemblance to geochelonans. Moreover, the morphology of the mandible from Gargano, which has its lingual serration reaching towards the symphyseal area, is also indicative of geochelonan affinities. If our identification is correct, the Gargano form would correspond to the earliest occurrence of Solitudo, denoting that this insular testudinid already radiated during the Late Miocene. A thorough overview of the diversity and taxonomy of insular testudinids from the Mediterranean islands is provided.