Cranial osteology, taxonomic reassessment, and phylogenetic relationships of the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) turtle ().

We describe the skull of the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) baenid turtle using micro-computed tomography to provide new insights into the cranial anatomy of basal baenids and into the evolution of paracryptodires. We show that the validity of still holds true, that the most basal known baenids for which skull material is known share an intriguing combination of features that are typical of either or , and that the carotid system of is intermediate to that of pleurosternids and more advanced baenids. Our expanded phylogenetic analysis confirms the traditional placement of , , and as basal baenids, retrieves along the stem of Baenoidea, but recovers , , , and as basal branching .