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ISSN: 2653-4649 (Online)
Australian Journal of

Taxonomy
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The Camfield fossil chelid fauna: II. Two new species of Australian Chelodina (Testudines: Chelidae)
Mehdi Joseph-Ouni, Adam M. Yates & William P. McCord
Author details ⏷
Mehdi Joseph-Ouni [1*], Adam M. Yates [2] & William P. McCord [3]
[1] South Glastonbury, CT 06073 USA
[2] Museum of Central Australia, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Alice Springs, 0870
[3] Hopewell Junction, NY 12533 USA
Abstract
The fossil turtle fauna of the middle Miocene Bullock Local Fauna, Camfield Beds, Northern Territory, Australia is specimen-rich in chelids; however, the fossils are highly fragmented and many have only been identified to genus level until recently. Joseph-Ouni, Yates & McCord (2024) reexamined these specimens, resulting in the formal recognition of two new fossil species of the short-necked Elseya. In this current contribution we highlight the fossil representation of the long-necked chelid genus Chelodina; fortuitously it is highly diagnostic and allows formal diagnosis of two new species, one in the subgenus Chelodina as C. (Chelodina) aquanimare sp. nov. and the other in the subgenus Chelydera as C. (Chelydera) nerophis sp. nov.
Cite this paper as: Joseph-Ouni M, Yates AM & McCord WP (2026). The Camfield fossil chelid fauna: II. Two new species of Australian Chelodina (Testudines: Chelidae). Australian Journal of Taxonomy 137: 1–12. doi: https://doi.org/10.54102/ajt.vqq42
This paper was published on: 20/10/2026



