Denazinemys
Denazinemys
Extinct genus of turtles
Denazinemys was a genus of baenid turtle that lived in the Late Cretaceous of New Mexico. The holotype specimen, which D. nodosa was based on, USNM 8345, consists of a partial carapace and plastron. It came from the De-na-zin Member of the Kirtland Formation, and therefore, Denazinemys lived in the Kirtlandian land-vertebrate age. Many specimens other than the holotype have been assigned to Denazinemys.[1]
Numerous shell fragments from the Lower and the Middle Campanian were assigned to Denazinemys nodosa, based on the welted structure of the shell surface. However, a recent study calls into question the attribution of this material to Denazinemys nodosa, as the material is too fragmentary to distinguish differences in the structure of the welted shell surface.[2] As it is not yet possible to identify these fragments precisely (several species of baenidae having this same feature on their shell surface), the researchers restricted Denazinemys nodosa to the Upper Campanian.[2]