Shell histology of the Triassic turtle, Proterochersis porebensis Szczygielski & Sulej, 2016, provides novel insights about shell ankylosis

This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Szczygielski, Tomasz, Słowiak, Justyna (2022): Shell histology of the Triassic turtle, Proterochersis porebensis Szczygielski & Sulej, 2016, provides novel insights about shell ankylosis. Comptes Rendus Palevol 21 (29): 619-679, DOI: 10.5852/cr-palevol2022v21a29, URL: doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2022v21a29 ABSTRACT Shell suture obliteration (ankylosis) was exceptionally frequent in the earliest turtles, in contrast to post-Triassic taxa.

Since modern turtles grow mostly along sutures, early ankylosis in Triassic taxa is intriguing. The Triassic turtle Proterochersis porebensis Szczygielski & Sulej, 2016 is known from numerous specimens, allowing observation of shell microstructure changes during ontogeny. Shell ankylosis occurred seemingly randomly in individuals of variable size, including small and morphologically juvenile, and completely obscured the initial bony composition.