| Mesodermochelys Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
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| Mesodermochelys undulatus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Superfamily: | Chelonioidea |
| Family: | Dermochelyidae |
| Genus: | †Mesodermochelys Hirayama & Chitoku, 1996 [1] |
| Type species | |
| †Mesodermochelys undulatus Hirayama & Chitoku, 1996[1]
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Mesodermochelys is an extinct genus of sea turtle known from the Campanian to the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of what today is Japan[2] and from the Maastrichtian of Chile.[3] One species is known, the type species M. undulatus;[1] it was given its binomial name by Ren Hirayama and Tsutomu Chitoku in 1996.[4] Studies of its skull indicate that it was a primitive member of the Dermochelyidae (leatherback turtle family) that was closely related to the Protostegidae.[2] It has been described as the best representative of Mesozoic dermochelyids.[1]
- ^ a b c d Hirayama R, Chitoku T. (1996). "Family Dermochelyidae (Superfamily Chelonioidea) from the Upper Cretaceous of North Japan". Transactions and proceedings of the Palaeontological Society of Japan. New series 184: 597-622. online, retrieved 28 July 2008
- ^ a b Hirayama R. (2007). "Cranial morphology of Mesodermochelys (Chelonioidea; Testudines) from the Late Cretaceous of Japan". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27 (3): 89A. online, retrieved 28 July 2008
- ^ Otero, Rodrigo A. (2024). "Review of two marine vertebrate assemblages from the Arauco Basin (central Chile) reveals diversity changes throughout the Maastrichtian". Cretaceous Research. 105996. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105996.
- ^ Hirayama R, Fujii A, Takahashi K. (2006). "A dermochelyid sea turtle from the Upper Cretaceous (Late Campanian) Izumi Group of Shionoe, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Western Japan". Fossils (Palaeontological Society of Japan) 80: 17-20. online, retrieved 28 July 2008