biology

Hutchemys

Hutchemys is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hutchemys rather than just read about it. In short: Hutchemys is an extinct genus of softshell turtles from the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian stage) to the late Paleocene of New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and North Dakota, United States. It was first named by Walter G.

Key takeaways

Hutchemys belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hutchemys to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hutchemys from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hutchemys is an extinct genus of softshell turtles from the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian stage) to the late Paleocene of New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and North Dakota, United States. It was first named by Walter G. Joyce, Ariel Revan, Tyler R. Lyson and Igor G. Danilov in 2009, and the type species is Hutchemys rememdium. H. rememdium is known from the holotype YPM PU 16795, which consists of a nearly complete postcranial skeleton, and from the referred specimen YPM PU 16781, found in the Ekalaka Member of the Fort Union Formation, Montana. Another referred specimen, YPM PU 14985, was found in the Cedar Point Quarry, Wyoming. The second species, H. arctochelys, is known from the holotype YPM PU 16319, a nearly complete carapace, and from the paratypes YPM PU 16320, YPM PU 16321, YPM PU 16322, YPM PU 16238. All specimens of H. arctochelys were recovered from the same quarry of the Tongue River Member, Fort Union Formation, near Burns Mine of Montana. A possible third species is represented by the unnamed specimen UCMP 130000 from the Paleocene Tullock Formation of Montana. Aspideretes? nassau (YPM PU 11566) from the Fort Union Formation, Duffy's Ranch of Sweet Grass County, Montana was also assigned to Hutchemys sp. A fourth species of Hutchemys, Hutchemys walkerorum, has been uncovered from the Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota. H. walkerorum is known from the holotype BDM 063, identified by the discovery and assembly of portions of its carapace. The fossil of H. walkerorum suggests that it was the only Hutchemys to live exclusively during the late Cretaceous era. The generic name honors John Howard Hutchison, a turtle paleontologist. Hutchison himself named later in 2009 two new genera of extinct softshell turtles from New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and Utah: Plastomenoides (two new species: P. lamberti (type) and P. tetanetron) and Derrisemys (new species: D. sterea (type) and new combination D. acupictus [originally Plastomenus]). In 2011, Joyce and Lyson noted that P. lamberti and Hutchemys rememdium are based on the same type specimen (YPM PU 16795) and therefore P. lamberti and Plastomenoides are objective junior synonyms of H. rememdium and Hutchemys. P. tetanetron Hutchison, 2009 is also cogeneric with H. rememdium. They also found that D. sterea is the closest relative of P. tetanetron and therefore both D. sterea and D. acupictus were reassigned to Hutchemys.

Phylogeny Cladogram after Joyce, Revan, Lyson and Danilov, 2009:

Cladogram after Joyce and Lyson, 2011:

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hutchemys

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hutchemys claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hutchemys before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hutchemys ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hutchemys

In research: Hutchemys appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hutchemys in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hutchemys is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cenozoic turtles of North America, Extinct turtles, Fossil taxa described in 2009, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hutchemys outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hutchemys in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hutchemys means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hutchemys out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hutchemys in simple terms?

Why does Hutchemys matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hutchemys?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hutchemys.