| Puentemys | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Pleurodira |
| Family: | †Bothremydidae |
| Subtribe: | †Foxemydina |
| Genus: | †Puentemys Cadenaet al.,2012 |
| Type species | |
| †Puentemys mushaisaensis Cadenaet al., 2012 | |
Puentemys is an extinctgenus ofbothremydid turtle from thePaleocene-ageCerrejón Formation inColombia. It is the largest known bothremydid, with a shell length of up to 1.51 m (5.0 ft).Puentemys is the only Paleocene bothremydid known from South America, and is most closely related to the genusFoxemys from theLate Cretaceous of Europe, showing that Bothremydini, the tribe of bothremydids to whichPuentemys belonged, had a nearly worldwide distribution across theK-T boundary. The ancestors ofPuentemys may have reached South America by dispersing across Paleocene coastlines or by riding currents across the Atlantic Ocean.[1]
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