Centrochelys atlantica is a putative extinct species of tortoise supposed to have lived in the Pleistocene recorded in the volcanic crater on Sal, Cape Verde. Tortoise fossils were described but not named from the crater in 1935.[2] Four further bones from a private collector supposed to have been found in the same crater were described in 1998 as a new species similar to the extant Testudo calcarata (= Centrochelys sulcata), differentiated from C. sulcata by its smaller size and lesser robusticity.[1]
| Centrochelys atlantica Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Superfamily: | Testudinoidea |
| Family: | Testudinidae |
| Genus: | Centrochelys |
| Species: | †C. atlantica
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Centrochelys atlantica (López-Jurado, Mateo, & García-Márquez 1998)[1]
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However, Kehlmaier et al. (2021) identified the type material of this species as belonging to a specimen of the red-footed tortoise, making C. atlantica a junior synonym of the latter species. Radiocarbon dating also revealed that the bones were from an individual that lived between 1962 and 1974 rather than being fossils.[3]
This leaves the extinct tortoise known from fossils excavated on the Sal Island in the 1930s currently without a scientific name. It does not seem there is any evidence this species came into contact with humans.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b López-Jurad o, L.F., Mateo, J.A., and García-Márqu ez, M. 1998. La tortuga fósil de la isla de Sal (Archipiélago de Cabo Verde). Revista Española de Herpetología 12:111–114.
- ^ Chevalier, A., Joleaud , L., and Petit, G. 1935. Les dépôts quaternaires de l’ancien cratère de Pedra de Lume (île de Sal, archipel du Cap-Vert). Comptes Rendus des Séances de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris 200:1334–1335.
- ^ Kehlmaier, C.; López-Jurado, L. F.; Hernández-Acosta, N.; Mateo-Miras, A.; Fritz, U. (2021). ""Ancient DNA" reveals that the scientific name for an extinct tortoise from Cape Verde refers to an extant South American species". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): Article number 17537. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1117537K. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97064-2. PMC 8413269. PMID 34475454.
- ^ Rhodin, A.G.J.; Thomson, S.; Georgalis, G.; Karl, H.-V.; Danilov, I.G.; Takahashi, A.; de la Fuente, M.S.; Bourque, J.R.; Delfino M.; Bour, R.; Iverson, J.B.; Shaffer, H.B.; van Dijk, P.P.; et al. (Turtle Extinctions Working Group) (2015). "Turtles and tortoises of the world during the rise and global spread of humanity: first checklist and review of extinct Pleistocene and Holocene chelonians". Chelonian Research Monographs. 5 (8): 000e.1–66. doi:10.3854/crm.5.000e.fossil.checklist.v1.2015. hdl:11336/62240.
