Basilemys

Basilemys is a large, terrestrial nanhsiungchelyid turtle from the Upper Cretaceous of North and Central America. Most fossils of Basilemys have been found in rocks dating to the Campanian and Maastrichtian subdivisions of the Late Cretaceous and is considered to be the largest terrestrial turtle of its time. In an analysis made by Sukhanov et al. on a nansiunghelyid turtle from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia, it was demonstrated that Asian nanhsiungchelyids gave rise to the North American nanhsiungchelyids.

Basilemys

Willem van Valkenburg · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
NanhsiungchelyidaePBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB, for Cryptodira
Life habit
aquaticPBDB, for Cryptodira
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
freshwaterPBDB, for Cryptodira

Time the record covers

At least 21 million years on record.

The record covers at least 93.9 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 100.5 Mya to 66 Mya.

Early Cretaceous — about 0 of 128 occurrencesLate Cretaceous — about 128 of 128 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 128 occurrences101–100 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences100–99 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences99–98 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences98–96 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences96–95 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences95–94 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences94–93 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences93–92 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences92–90 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences90–89 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences89–88 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences88–87 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences87–86 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences86–84 Mya — about 1 occurrence84–83 Mya — about 3 occurrences83–82 Mya — about 7 occurrences82–81 Mya — about 7 occurrences81–80 Mya — about 7 occurrences80–78 Mya — about 7 occurrences78–77 Mya — about 7 occurrences77–76 Mya — about 7 occurrences76–75 Mya — about 7 occurrences75–74 Mya — about 7 occurrences74–72 Mya — about 7 occurrences72–71 Mya — about 10 occurrences71–70 Mya — about 11 occurrences70–69 Mya — about 11 occurrences69–68 Mya — about 11 occurrences68–67 Mya — about 11 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 5 occurrences93.9 Mya72.2 Mya101.2 Mya65.3 Mya

128 occurrences of Basilemys on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

128 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

32 formations

Hell Creek — 45.95°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.33°N, 103.90°WHell Creek — 46.46°N, 104.00°WHell Creek — 46.36°N, 103.90°WHell Creek — 45.94°N, 103.95°WHell Creek — 47.55°N, 107.13°WHell Creek — 47.62°N, 107.32°WHell Creek — 47.57°N, 107.10°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 106.27°WHell Creek — 47.61°N, 106.90°WHell Creek — 46.03°N, 103.77°WHell Creek — 45.38°N, 105.30°WHell Creek — 46.41°N, 103.50°WHell Creek — 45.89°N, 104.55°WHell Creek — 45.87°N, 103.79°WHell Creek — 45.00°N, 103.19°WKirtland — 36.30°N, 108.55°WKirtland — 36.19°N, 107.89°WKirtland — 36.14°N, 108.11°WKirtland — 36.34°N, 108.08°WKirtland — 36.29°N, 108.54°WLance — 43.12°N, 104.64°WLance — 41.57°N, 108.67°WLance — 43.18°N, 104.53°WLance — 43.15°N, 104.57°WLance — 45.75°N, 101.20°WLance — 43.00°N, 104.50°WLance — 45.39°N, 103.70°WLance — 45.60°N, 103.63°WAguja — 29.20°N, 103.55°WAguja — 29.29°N, 103.61°WFruitland — 36.49°N, 108.49°WFruitland — 36.27°N, 108.21°WFruitland — 36.12°N, 107.78°WFruitland — 36.29°N, 108.55°WFerris — 41.80°N, 107.00°WFerris — 41.94°N, 106.88°WFerris — 41.96°N, 106.89°WDinosaur Park — 49.12°N, 110.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.82°N, 111.57°WDinosaur Park — 50.74°N, 111.46°WKaiparowits — 37.42°N, 111.79°WKaiparowits — 37.49°N, 111.72°WKaiparowits — 37.30°N, 112.43°WKaiparowits — 37.84°N, 111.28°WOldman — 49.10°N, 110.94°WOldman — 49.78°N, 113.32°WOldman — 50.73°N, 111.80°WOldman — 49.23°N, 110.69°WJudith River — 46.47°N, 109.30°WJudith River — 46.40°N, 109.66°WJudith River — 46.35°N, 109.22°WJudith River — 46.44°N, 109.83°WDenver — 39.61°N, 105.02°WDenver — 39.84°N, 105.04°WDenver — 39.90°N, 105.10°WDenver — 38.91°N, 104.53°WFrenchman — 49.04°N, 106.60°WFrenchman — 49.52°N, 108.82°WFrenchman — 49.00°N, 110.55°WJavelina — 29.30°N, 103.50°WJavelina — 29.21°N, 103.61°WDjadokhta — 43.66°N, 100.90°EDjadokhta — 44.09°N, 102.91°ETwo Medicine — 48.63°N, 113.75°WTwo Medicine — 48.94°N, 112.64°WMilk River — 49.08°N, 111.44°WAguja — 28.94°N, 103.37°WAguja — 28.98°N, 103.38°WJudith River — 49.10°N, 109.50°WMesaverde — 42.85°N, 107.28°WMoreno — 36.50°N, 120.69°WKirtland? — 36.29°N, 108.54°WMasuk — 38.07°N, 110.91°WLaramie — 39.73°N, 105.05°WWahweap — 37.60°N, 111.90°W

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The named rock units Basilemys has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 8 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 3 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Basilemys and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Basilemys and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

641 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 124 sites for Basilemys, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

59 references

Each of the 128 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 47 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Basilemys

Credit
Willem van Valkenburg
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Structured light scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Basilemys sp. · dmnh:unnumbered

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
Modbuff
Licence
Free Standard
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itNanhsiungchelyidae through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Hay 1902