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Archelon
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==Classification and evolution== [[File:Leatherback Sea Turtle (17665415746).jpg|thumb|The [[leatherback sea turtle]] was previously thought to be the closest living relative.|alt=A leatherback sea turtle leaving a beach, possibly after laying eggs.]] In its original 1896 description, Wieland placed ''Archelon'' into the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Protostegidae]], which included at the time the smaller ''[[Protostega]]'' and ''[[Protosphargis]]'',<ref name=wieland1896/> the latter being nowadays classified in a position closer to the family [[Cheloniidae]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=R.|last=Hirayama|title=Systematic position of ''Protosphargis veronensis'' Capellini, an enigmatic sea turtle from the Late Cretaceous of Italy|year=2005|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=25|issue=3|page=70A|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297915862}}</ref> In 1953, Swiss paleontologist [[wikispecies:Rainer Zangerl|Rainer Zangerl]] split Protostegidae into two subfamilies: [[Chelospharginae]] and [[Protosteginae]]; to the former was assigned ''[[Chelosphargis]]'' and ''[[Calcarichelys]]'', and the latter ''Archelon'' and ''Protostega''.<ref name=zangerl/> The [[sister group]] of ''Protostegidae'' had, in the past, been considered to be [[Dermochelyidae]], and thus their closest living relative would have been the dermochelyid [[leatherback sea turtle]] (''Dermochelys coriacea'').<ref name=hooks/> However, [[phylogenetic]] studies conclude that protostegids represent a completely separate, [[basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] (ancient) lineage that originated in the [[Late Jurassic]], removing the family from the [[Superfamily (taxonomy)|superfamily]] ''[[Chelonioidea]]'' (which includes all sea turtles). In this model, ''Archelon'' does not share a marine ancestor with any sea turtle.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Joyce|first=W. G.|year=2007|title=Phylogenetic Relationships of Mesozoic Turtles|journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History|volume=48|issue=1|page=66|doi=10.3374/0079-032x(2007)48[3:promt]2.0.co;2|s2cid=85998318 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/16104/files/PAL_E960.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=J.|last=Anquetin|year=2011|title=Reassessment of the Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Basal Turtles (Testudinata)|journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology|volume=10|issue=1|page=35|doi=10.1080/14772019.2011.558928|s2cid=85295987|url=http://osf.io/dt6yj/}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=A. D.|last1=Gentry|first2=J. A.|last2=Ebersole|year=2018|title=The First Report of ''Toxochelys latiremis'' Cope, 1873 (Testudines: Panchelonioidea) from the Early Campanian of Alabama, USA|journal=PaleoBios|volume=35|page=1|doi=10.5070/P9351037558|url=http://escholarship.org/uc/item/23r690jk|doi-access=free}}</ref> {{Cladogram|align=left|title=Protostegidae|caption=''Archelon'' with some protostegids<ref>{{cite journal|first1=I.|last1=Scavezzoni|first2=V.|last2=Fischer|year=2018|title=''Rhinochelys amaberti'' Moret (1935), a Protostegid Turtle from the Early Cretaceous of France|journal=PeerJ|volume=10|issue=6|page=e4594|doi=10.7717/peerj.4594|pmc=5898427|pmid=29666758 |doi-access=free }}</ref> |cladogram={{clade|style=font-size:100%; line-height:100%;width:500px; |label1=[[Protostegidae]] |1={{clade |1=''[[Calcarichelys]]'' |2=''[[Syllomus]]'' |3={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Ocepechelon]]'' |2=''[[Alienochelys]]'' }} |2={{clade |1=''[[Protostega]]'' |2='''''Archelon''''' }} }} |4={{clade |1=''[[Chelosphargis]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Desmatochelys|Desmatochelys lowi]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Bouliachelys]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Santanachelys]]'' |2=''[[Desmatochelys padillai]]'' }}}}}}}}}}}}}} [[File:Protostega_Gigas.jpg|thumb|''[[Protostega]]'', the [[type genus]] of the Protostegidae]] {{clear}}
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