New genus of Triassic turtles from Thailand

Figure: Life restoration of Thaichelys ruchae (illustration by Sita Manitkoon).

Already in the Late Triassic, turtles attained global distribution, yet only a single species, Proganochelys ruchae, had been described from the eastern part of Pangea (Thailand, in the 1980s). The state of knowledge about the diversity and anatomy of Triassic turtles was, however, very limited at the time. Studies of historical and previously unpublished material, considering new data, indicate that the species does not belong to the genus Proganochelys, restricted in range to the area of current-day Europe, but instead to a new genus, Thaichelys, from the group Proterochersidae.