A new European Albian turtle that extends the known stratigraphic range of the Pleurosternidae (Paracryptodira)

Abstract Postcranial material corresponding to three specimens of freshwater turtles, from the lower Albian (upper Lower Cretaceous) of Arino (Teruel Province, Spain), is analysed in this paper. This study allows us to identify the presence of Pleurosternidae (Paracryptodira) outside its known stratigraphic range, from Kimmeridgian to Barremian, and extends its distribution to the Albian. The species from Arino represents a new taxon, Toremys cassiopeia gen. et sp. nov., which is the only pleurosternid described so far in post-Berriasian levels. Toremys cassiopeia is closely related to other taxa from Europe, to which the Cretaceous pleurosternids are restricted. Knowledge about the European freshwater turtle faunas distributed between the Barremian and the uppermost Cretaceous is very limited. The new finding provides relevant data on these poorly understood faunas.