Atlante osteologico per l'identificazione del guscio delle tartarughe europee e mediterranee

The turtle fauna of Europe and the Mediterranean consists of about 12 taxa and includes both terrestrial and aquatic species: Testudo hermanni, Testudo graeca, Testudo kleinmanni, Testudo marginata, Emys orbicularis, Mauremys leprosa, Mauremys rivulata, Mauremys caspica, Trionyx triunguis, Caretta caretta, Chelonia mydas and Dermochelys coriacea. Archaeological and ethnographic evidence reveals that turtles have been an important part of human diets, culture, and symbolism across various civilizations. Turtle remains have been found in numerous prehistoric sites, dating back to the Paleolithic era, including skeletal remains, shell fragments, and tools associated with the processing of turtles. Due to the considerable presence of turtle shell remains in archaeological sites, it is necessary to provide researchers with tools so that they can recognise the bone element found and identify the species. The aim of this thesis is therefore to contribute to the creation of a dichotomous key and an osteological atlas that can be useful to experts in the field of paleontology and archaeozoology to identify extant species that are often found during excavations. The phylogenetic signal of the identified characters has also been tested thanks to the preparation (with Mesquite) of a matrix of 50 characters and 10 taxa analysed with TNT. For the morphological study of bone elements, photographs or direct inspection of specimens (about 100) hosted in reference collections from several internationally renowned museums and universities were used. It was decided to analyse the bone elements (nuchal, pygal, epiplastra, entoplastron, hyoplastra, hypoplastra and xiphiplastra) most useful for identification and their relationship with the horny scutes that cover them. Original anatomical drawings were also made of the specimens and the most significant elements for the morphological study of the taxa considered.