Trionychia Temporal range: Late Jurassic to recent,
| |
---|---|
The spiny softshell turtle (Trionychidae) | |
The pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelyidae) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Clade: | Polycryptodira |
Superfamily: | Trionychia Hummel, 1929[1] |
Families | |
Carettochelyidae | |
Synonyms | |
|
Trionychia is a superfamily of turtles which encompasses the species that are commonly referred to as softshelled turtles as well as some others. The group contains two families, Carettochelyidae, which has only one living species, the pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) native to New Guinea and Northern Australia, and Trionychidae, the softshelled turtles, containing numerous species native to Asia, North America and Africa. These families likely diverged during the late Jurassic.[2] The oldest known stem-trionychian is Sinaspideretes from the Late Jurassic of China.[3][4]