RESUMEN
An unpublished turtle shell from the middle Cenomanian of Vale de Figueira, near Belas (Lisbon District, Portugal), is recognized by us as collected in 1880 under the direction of Carlos Ribeiro. No turtle remains from that region had so far been figured, described or discussed from a systematic point of view. The specimen corresponds to a partial but articulated shell. It is attributed to Pleurodira and, more specifically, to Bothremydidae. Only one pre-Campanian turtle specimen was previously identified at the infrafamilial level in the Cretaceous record of Portugal. It was a partial shell from the middle Cenomanian of Nazaré (Leiria District) attributed to the bothremydid Algorachelus peregrina, a species defined in a Spanish synchronous locality (Algora, in Central Spain). Several anatomical regions in the specimen from Vale de Figueira were not preserved in the partial carapace from Nazaré, and differences in the morphology of some elements are recognized between both shells. However, the individual studied here is also ascribed to Algorachelus peregrina, these differences being justified by intraspecific variability. Therefore, the specimen represents the second evidence on the species in Portugal, being the only one recognized for the Lisbon District.
RESUMEN
Currently, there is no information on the fossil record of Pan-Cheloniidae from the Neogene of the Iberian Peninsula. A well-preserved partial skeleton attributable to this lineage of turtles, from the Middle Miocene of Portugal, is presented here. It preserves much of the anterior half of its carapace, in which the plates remain articulated, as well as several articulated dorsal vertebrae, and an isolated cervical and a caudal vertebrae. The analysis of this Serravallian find shows that it cannot be attributed to a hitherto described taxon. Thus, a new member of Pan-Cheloniidae is defined, Lusochelys emilianoi gen. et sp. nov., improving the relatively limited knowledge about this lineage for the Middle Miocene global record. It represents the first generic and specific systematic attribution for a member of Pan-Chelonioidea in the Neogene record of the Iberian Peninsula.
RESUMEN
A new mammal, Mondegodon eutrigonus gen. et sp. nov., is described from the earliest Eocene locality of Silveirinha, Portugal. This species shows dental adaptations indicative of a carnivorous diet. M. eutrigonus is referred to the order Acreodi and considered, along with the early Paleocene North American species Oxyclaenus cuspidatus, as a morphological intermediate between two groups of ungulate-like mammals, namely, the triisodontids and mesonychians. Considering that triisodontids are early to early-late Paleocene North American taxa, Mondegodon probably belongs to a group that migrated from North America towards Europe during the first part of the Paleocene. Mondegodon could represent thus a relict genus, belonging to the ante-Eocene European mammalian fauna. The occurrence of such a taxon in Southern Europe may reflect a period of isolation of this continental area during the Paleocene/Eocene transition. In this context, the non-occurrence of closely allied forms of Mondegodon in the Eocene North European mammalian faunas is significant. This strengthens the hypothesis that the mammalian fauna from Southern Europe is characterized by a certain degree of endemism during the earliest Eocene. Mondegodon also presents some striking similarities with an unnamed genus from the early Eocene of India which could represent the first Asian known transitional form between the triisodontids and mesonychians.
