The Vellberg sample combines broadened trunk ribs, paired robust gastralia and a diapsid skull mosaic without preserving a fused plastron or complete carapace.
Represented range242–237 Ma
RegionsErfurt Formation, Vellberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
CladesPan-Testudines · Pappochelys rosinae
Claim ledger
morphology · medium
The Pappochelys sample preserves broadened ribs and robust paired gastralia without a fused plastron or complete carapace; proposed gastral fusion and its position among sampled stem turtles are homology and topology hypotheses, not a linear ancestral stage.