Niolamia is an extinct genus of South American meiolaniid turtle.[1] Arthur Smith Woodward sunk it into Meiolania, but this was not accepted by later authors.[2] The genus is known from the Sarmiento Formation in Argentina.[3]
Few members of the turtle lineage have horns in the supraorbital region, and few display spikes in the osteoderm.
It seems the only reason this creature was put in the "testudine" lineage is because its fenestrae are closed, it has an osteoderm, and it lived after the KPg event. Since only the osteoderm and skull have been preserved, there is little other evidence to place it in Pantestudine.
Ankylosaurus had horns and a spiked osteoderm. By 66 mya, most of its fenestrae had closed. The one remaining pair of fenestrae was growing smaller, as if "closing."
In order to put this "turtle-like" creature in Meiolania, you must construct a ghost lineage that lived for nearly 100 million years while leaving no fossils. An ankylosaur ancestor only requires a 20 million year gap.
Oh but wait, it's not a member of Meiolania. Apparently there is no consensus as to what it was, but they call it Meiolania anyway.
Here is the skull:
Few members of the turtle lineage have horns in the supraorbital region, and few display spikes in the osteoderm.
It seems the only reason this creature was put in the "testudine" lineage is because its fenestrae are closed, it has an osteoderm, and it lived after the KPg event. Since only the osteoderm and skull have been preserved, there is little other evidence to place it in Pantestudine.
Ankylosaurus had horns and a spiked osteoderm. By 66 mya, most of its fenestrae had closed. The one remaining pair of fenestrae was growing smaller, as if "closing."
In order to put this "turtle-like" creature in Meiolania, you must construct a ghost lineage that lived for nearly 100 million years while leaving no fossils. An ankylosaur ancestor only requires a 20 million year gap.
Oh but wait, it's not a member of Meiolania. Apparently there is no consensus as to what it was, but they call it Meiolania anyway.
Here is the skull:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
It looks nothing like that of any turtle, but looks very much like that of an ankylosaur:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
This is not proof, just a questioning. Questions are important for science.
Does anyone have anything to link it to Pantestudines besides the lack of fenestrae in the skull and the presence of an osteoderm?
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