Pleistocene Fossil Turtles (Testudinoidea, Cryptodira) from the Talara Tar Seeps, Peru

A description of Pleistocene fossil turtles discovered in the Talara Tar Seeps, Tablazos
deposits of the northern coast of Peru is provided in this paper. The specimens
are mostly fragmentary plates of carapaces and plastra of turtles belonging to two
cryptodiran families of the superfamily Testudinoidea, identified to genus level
based on measurements and comparisons with extant and fossil taxa and identification
of mosaic diagnostic features. Turtles of the Geoemydidae family are the
most abundant, with fossil remains attributed to Rhinoclemmys (indeterminate
species). Less abundant fossil remains belong to the Testudinidae, with specimens
attributed to the genus Chelonoidis (indeterminate species). These fossils show
that the northern coast of Peru had ecosystems that supported abundant aquatic
and terrestrial turtles (tortoises) during the Pleistocene in areas where they are
completely absent today.