Research paper

**Taxonomic revision of ‘Testudo’ gymnesica Bate, 1914 (Testudines, Testudinidae) based on the description of the type material from Menorca (Islas Baleares)**

ÀNGEL H. LUJÁN
Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Ediﬁci ICTA-ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain. angel.lujan@icp.cat

Masaryk University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geological Sciences, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic.

University of Fribourg, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geosciences, Chemin de Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
Corresponding author

JOSEP ANTONI ALCOVER
IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Departament de Biodiversitat i Conservació, Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats, Cr Miquel Marqués 21, 07199 Esporles, Mallorca, Balears, Spain. jaalcover@imedea.uib-csic.es

Research Associate Division of Vertebrate Zoology/Mammalogy Department, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.

MARTIN IVANOV
Masaryk University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geological Sciences, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic. ivanov@sci.muni.cz

ENRIC TORRES
IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Departament de Biodiversitat i Conservació, Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats, Cr Miquel Marqués 21, 07199 Esporles, Mallorca, Balears, Spain. etorres@imedea.uib-csic.es

DAVID M. ALBA
Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Ediﬁci ICTA-ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain. david.alba@icp.cat

ABSTRACT

Knowledge on fossil giant tortoises from Europe has considerably increased during recent years, leading to the description of genus Titanochelon for the species from the European Neogene. However, the inclusion of the giant tortoise from the Balearic Islands, ‘Testudo’ gymnesica, in that genus has been made only on tentative grounds. To clarify the taxonomic status and phylogenetic position of this species, in this paper we describe and ﬁgure in detail its type material from Minorca (lectotype and paralectotypes), together with some unpublished specimens not included in the original description. The remarkable postcranial differences shown by this species compared with Titanochelon spp. cast additional doubts on its inclusion in this genus. A cladistic analysis does not resolve its phylogenetic relationships. Some of the peculiar features observed in the carapace and the postcranial bones of the fossil tortoise from Menorca are attributable to its evolution under insularity conditions, which hinders the determination of its phylogenetic relationships relative to continental species. Provisionally we refer to the species tentatively as aff. Titanochelon gymnesica. In the future, a detailed study of the unpublished material from Minorca, with emphasis on the carapace, should enable an emended diagnosis of the species, as well as determining more conclusively its correct generic ascription.

Key words: Testudinids, insularity, giant tortoises, Titanochelon, taxonomic revision.

How to cite: Luján, À.H., Alcover, J.A., Ivanov, M., Torres, E. & Alba, D.M. 2017. Revisión taxonómica de “Testudo” gymnesica Bate, 1914 (Testudines, Testudinidae) a partir de la descripción del material tipo de Menorca (Islas Baleares). [Taxonomic revision of ‘Testudo’ gymnesica Bate, 1914 (Testudines, Testudinidae) based on the description of the type material from Menorca (Islas Baleares)]. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 32 (2), 261-278.

Received 24 November 2016, Accepted 14 March 2017, Published 31 December 2017

https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.32.2.17043