Nostimochelone lampra gen. et sp. nov., an EnigmaticNew Podocnemidoidean Turtle from the Early Mioceneof Northern Greece

A new podocnemidoidean turtle, Nostimochelonelampra gen. et sp. nov., was recently recovered fromlittoral marine-estuarine sediments of the lower MioceneZeugostasion Formation, near the village of Nostimo innorthwestern Macedonia, Greece. This new taxon is characterizedby a mosaic of primitive and derived features mostnotably the presence of a broad embayment on the anteriorcarapace margin, which involves both the nuchal (whosewidth[length) and first pair of peripherals, a continuousseries of six markedly elongate and very narrowed hexagonalneural bones, extension of the axillary buttress onto themidline of the anteroposteriorly elongate costal I (leavinga concave scar) and also laterally across the peripheralII-peripheral III suture, medial contact of the humeral scutes(implying a small intergular), and extensive overlap of thepectoral scutes on the entoplastron, probably extending tothe epiplastral-hyoplastral suture. Conclusive phylogeneticplacement of Nostimochelone is difficult to establishbecause the remains are incompletely preserved. Nevertheless,its discovery is significant because it represents boththe first record of a pleurodiran turtle from Greece and alsoone of only a handful of fossil podocnemidoidean occurrencesthus far documented from the Neogene of Europe.