Dermochelyidae
Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
Dermochelyidae is a family of sea turtles which has seven extinct genera and one extant genus, containing one living species, the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). The oldest fossils of the group date to the Late Cretaceous.
Classification of known genera
The following list is based on Gentry et al. (2025):<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=hirTong2003>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Genus †Eosphargis Lydekker, 1889
- Subfamily Dermochelyinae Weems, 1988<ref name="nhost">Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Tribe †Uelocini Gentry et al., 2025
- Genus †Cardiochelys Moody, 1993
- Genus †Natemys Wood, Johnson-Gove, Gaffney & Maley, 1996
- Genus †Ueloca Gentry et al., 2025
- Genus †Zealosphargis Gentry et al., 2025
- Tribe Dermochelyini Gentry et al., 2025
- Genus †Cosmochelys Andrews, 1919
- Genus Dermochelys Blainville, 1816 (including the extant leatherback turtle)
- Genus †Egyptemys Wood, Johnson-Gove, Gaffney & Maley, 1996
- Genus †Psephophorus von Meyer, 1847
- Tribe †Uelocini Gentry et al., 2025
The Late Cretaceous Japanese sea turtle †Mesodermochelys was formerly considered a member of this family, which would make it one of the oldest members of the group. However, a 2012 taxonomic revision found it to not be closely related to Dermochelys, and more likely a basal panchelonioid.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Similarly, the genus Template:ExtinctArabemys Tong et al., 1999 from the Maastrichtian or Early Eocene of Saudi Arabia shows osteoderm morphology unknown among any other dermochelyid, and may be an archosaur instead. Excluding these two, the earliest known dermochelyid is the basal genus Eosphargis from the ?Late Paleocene and Early Eocene.<ref name=":1" />
The two tribes of Dermochelyinae appear to have diverged in the Middle Eocene. The Uelocini saw most of its diversity in the Paleogene, with the last surviving member being Natemys from the Early Miocene. Dermochelyini also saw several genera appear around the Eocene, and Psephophorus survived up to the end of the Miocene, but Dermochelys is the only extant member.<ref name=":1" />
Phylogeny
Evers et al. (2019):<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
References
Bibliography
External links
Template:Dermochelyidae Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control