Ms. De La Fuente et M. Iturralde-vinent, A new pleurodiran turtle from the Jagua Formation (Oxfordian) of western Cuba, J PALEONTOL, 75(4), 2001, pp. 860-869
The oldest Jurassic marine pleurodire is reported from the Jagua Formation
in western Cuba. These remains are from levels of middle and late Oxfordian
age. This turtle represents a new genus and species, Caribemys oxfordiensi
s. A phylogenetic hypothesis is proposed. whereby Caribemys is considered t
o be the sister group of Notoemys Cattoi and Freiberg, 1961, plus the Euple
urodira Gaffney and Meylan, 1988. The occurrence of Caribemys oxfordiensis
n. gen. and sp. in the Jagua Formation along with plesiosauroids, pliosauro
ids, ophthalmosaurian ichthyosaurs. and metriorhynchid crocodiles, strongly
suggests that during the Oxfordian a marine seaway was present in the Cari
bbean. connecting the western Tethys with the Pacific Ocean.