The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. The division between these two suborders represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtles. The physical differences between them, although anatomical and largely internal, are nonetheless significant, and the zoogeographic implications of them are substantial. The Pleurodira are known more commonly as the side-necked turtles and the name Pleurodira quite literally translates to side neck, whereas the Cryptodira are known as hidden-necked turtles.[6] The Pleurodira turtles are currently restricted to freshwater habitats in the Southern Hemisphere, largely to Australia, South America, and Africa. Within the Pleurodira, three living families are represented: Chelidae, also known as the Austro-South American side-necked turtles, the Pelomedusidae, also known as the African mud terrapins, and the Podocnemididae, also known as the American side-neck river turtles.[6][7] However, they were cosmopolitan clade during the Cretaceous and most of the Cenozoic, and even occurred in marine environments around the world.[8][9]
^ abCope, E. D. (1865). "Third Contribution to the Herpetology of Tropical America". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 17 (4): 185–198. JSTOR4624040.
^Van Dijk, Peter Paul; Iverson, John; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Bour, Roger; Rhodin, Anders (2012). "Turtles of the World, 2012 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status". Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises. doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v5.2012. ISBN978-0965354097.
^Cope, E. D. (1864). "On the Limits and Relations of the Raniformes". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 16 (4): 181–183. JSTOR4623931.
^ abPritchard, Peter Charles Howard; Trebbau, Pedro (1984). The Turtles of Venezuela. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. p. 403. ISBN9780916984113.
^Vitt, L. and Caldwell, J. (2014). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Academic Press. pp. 523–543.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)