Dermochelyidae

{{Short description|Family of turtles}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Late Paleocene-Holocene, {{fossil_range|59|0|earliest=84}} Possible Late Cretaceous records | image = Leatherback sea turtle Tinglar, USVI (5839996547).jpg | image_caption = Leatherback turtles are the only living representative of the dermochelyid family. | taxon = Dermochelyidae | authority = Fitzinger, 1843<ref name="Rhodin11">{{Harnvb|Rhodin|2011|p=000.174}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text. | synonyms = *Sphargidae Gray, 1825 *Dermatochelydae Fitzinger, 1843 *Athecae Cope, 1871 *Athecata Lydekker, 1889 *Dermochelyidae Lydekker, 1889 | synonyms_ref = <ref name="Rhodin11" /> }}

'''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">{{Cite journal |last=Gentry |first=Andrew D. |last2=Burns |first2=Michael E. |last3=Ebersole |first3=Jun A. |last4=Gregson |first4=Kimberly A. |last5=Martinez |first5=Emma C. |last6=Parham |first6=James F. |date=2025-09-12 |title=A new leatherback marine turtle from the lower Oligocene of North America and a phylogenetic nomenclature for Dermochelyidae |url=https://bioone.org/journals/Palaeodiversity/volume-18/issue-1/pale.v18.a6/A-new-leatherback-marine-turtle-from-the-lower-Oligocene-of/10.18476/pale.v18.a6.full |journal=Palaeodiversity |volume=18 |issue=1 |doi=10.18476/pale.v18.a6 |issn=1867-6294|doi-access=free }}</ref>''<ref name=hirTong2003>{{cite journal | last1 = Hirayama | first1 = R. | last2 = Tong | first2 = H. | year = 2003 | title = ''Osteopygis'' (Testudines: Cheloniidae) from the Lower Tertiary of the Ouled Abdoun phosphate basin, Morocco | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40662885 | journal = Palaeontology | volume = 46 | issue = 5| pages = 845–856 | doi=10.1111/1475-4983.00322| bibcode = 2003Palgy..46..845H | doi-access = free }}</ref> * Genus †''Arabemys'' Tong et al., 1999 * Genus †''Eosphargis'' Lydekker, 1889 * Genus †''Gigantochelys'' Mousa et al., 2026<ref name="Gigantochelys">{{Cite journal |last1=Mousa |first1=Mohamed K. |last2=Tantawy |first2=Abdel Aziz A. |last3=Abu El-Kheir |first3=Gebely A. |date=February 2026 |title=First known gigantic dermochelyid turtle (Pan-Chelonioidea) from the Upper Cretaceous deposits of Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt. |journal=Cretaceous Research |language=en |article-number=106357 |issue=in press |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2026.106357}}</ref> * Genus †''Helianthochelys'' Sterli et al., 2025<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sterli |first1=J. |last2=Vlachos |first2=E. |last3=Cuitiño |first3=J. I. |last4=Cerda |first4=I. A. |last5=Buono |first5=M. R. |title=Southernmost dermochelyid turtle from the Miocene |year=2025 |journal=Ameghiniana |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=240–258 |doi=10.5710/AMGH.29.08.2025.3635 |url=https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/article/view/3635 }}</ref> * Genus †''Mesodermochelys'' Hirayama & Chitoku, 1996 *Subfamily Dermochelyinae Weems, 1988<ref name="nhost">{{cite journal |title=Natural history of seas turtles: paleontologic history |url=http://www.scistp.org/resources/docs/2007_handbook_5_21-22.pdf |pages=21–2}}</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 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>{{Cite journal |last=Anquetin |first=Jérémy |date=2012-03-01 |title=Reassessment of the phylogenetic interrelationships of basal turtles (Testudinata) |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=3–45 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2011.558928 |issn=1477-2019}}</ref> Similarly, the genus {{extinct}}''Arabemys'' 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 dermochelyids include is the basal genera ''Gigantochelys'', from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Egypt and ''Eosphargis'' from the ?Late Paleocene and Early Eocene of Europe and North America.<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" />''[[File:Psephophorus NT small.jpg|thumb|Hypothetical reconstruction of ''Zealosphargis terrypratchetti'']]

== Phylogeny == Evers et al. (2019):<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Evers|first1=Serjoscha W.|last2=Barrett|first2=Paul M.|last3=Benson|first3=Roger B. J.|date=2019-05-01|title=Anatomy of Rhinochelys pulchriceps (Protostegidae) and marine adaptation during the early evolution of chelonioids|journal=PeerJ|volume=7|article-number=e6811|doi=10.7717/peerj.6811|issn=2167-8359|pmc=6500378|pmid=31106054 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

{{Clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:85% |label1=Panchelonioidea |1={{Clade |1=†''Toxochelys'' |2={{Clade |1=†Protostegidae 60 px |label2=Chelonioidea |2={{Clade |1=†''Corsochelys'' |2='''Dermochelyidae''' 50 px |3={{Clade |1=†''Nichollsemys'' |2={{Clade |1=†''Allopleuron'' |2={{Clade |1=Cheloniidae 50 px |2={{Clade |1=†''Argillochelys'' |2=†''Procolpochelys'' |3={{Clade |1=†''Eochelone'' |2=†''Puppigerus'' }} |4={{Clade |1=†''Ctenochelys'' |2=†''Peritresius'' |3=†''Cabindachelys'' }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== *{{Anchor|CITEREFRhodin2011}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_000_checklist_v4_2011.pdf |title=Turtles of the world, 2011 update: Annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution and conservation status |journal=Chelonian Research Monographs |volume=5 |date=2011-12-31 |author1=Rhodin, Anders G.J. |author2=van Dijk, Peter Paul |author3=Inverson, John B. |author4=Shaffer, H. Bradley |author5=Roger, Bour |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131102839/http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_000_checklist_v4_2011.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-31 }}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150214093651/http://wbd.etibioinformatics.nl/bis/turtles.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=36 Family Dermochelyidae (Leatherback turtles) from Turtles of the World by C.H. Ernst, R.G.M. Altenburg & R.W. Barbour]

Category:Dermochelyidae Category:Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger Category:Turtle families Category:Santonian first appearances Category:Extant Santonian first appearances