The Maastrichtian Deccan Intertrappean beds of Amboli Quarry, Bombay, yielded the skull of a new genus of side-necked turtle. Sankuchemys sethnai, new genus and species, is a pelomedusoid pleurodire belonging to the family Bothremydidae Baur, 1891, based on these characters: (1) exoccipital-quadrate contact, and (2) foramen stapedio-temporale not visible in dorsal view. Sankuchemys is most closely related to Kurmademys from the Maastrichtian of Tamil Nadu, because among bothremydids they uniquely share a highly emarginated temporal roof and a small postorbital. Sankuchemys is unique among bothremydids in having an accessory ridge on the triturating surface.
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22 May 2003
Sankuchemys, a New Side-Necked Turtle (Pelomedusoides: Bothremydidae) from the Late Cretaceous of India
EUGENE S. GAFFNEY,
ASHOK SAHNI,
HERMAN SCHLEICH,
SWARN DEEP SINGH,
RAHUL SRIVASTAVA