TABLE 1. Comparison of some cranial and postcranial characters of three podocnemidids: the new European Eocene genus Eocenochelus (represented by the three species studied here, Eocenochelus lacombianus sp. nov., Eocenochelus eremberti comb. nov. and Eocenochelus farresi sp. nov.), the Malagasy Erymnochelys (represented by the extant species Erymnochelys madagascariensis) and the European Eocene Neochelys (represented by ten species). For more information and detailed comparisons see the text.
| Eocenochelus | Erymnochelys | Neochelys | |
| Snout | Short | Prominent | Prominent |
| Premaxillary beak | Absent | Present | Absent |
| Suborbital space height | Greater than the orbits height | Less than the orbits height | Less than the orbits height |
| Interorbital space | Wider than the orbits length | Narrower or as narrow as the orbits length | Narrower or as narrow as the orbits length |
| Cheek emargination | Absent. Filled by a ventral expansion of the jugal | Small. In large part filled by the jugal or jugal and quadratojugal ventral expansion | Largely present between the maxilla and the quadratojugal |
| Interparietal scute anterior extension | Not contacting the frontals | Overlapping the frontals | Overlapping the frontals |
| Interparietal anterior concavity | Present | Absent | Present |
| Mandibular symphysis length | About 40% of the lower jaw length | About 30% of the lower jaw length | About 25% of the lower jaw length |
| Lower jaw | Very robust | Relatively robust | Slender |
| Number of neurals | 6 to 7 | 6 | 6 to 7 |
| Plastral lobes | Posterior lobe narrower than the anterior | Posterior lobe narrower than the anterior | Subequal width of both lobes |
| Anterior lobe morphology | Subrounded | Subrounded to subtrapezoidal | Subrounded to subtrapezoidal |
| Intergular length | Long, reaching or overlying the entoplastron | Short, not reaching the entoplastron | Long, reaching or overlying the entoplastron |
| Medial contact of the gulars | Present. Intergular not contacting the humerals | Present. Intergular not contacting the humerals | Absent. Intergular contacting the humerals, and contacting or not the pectorals |
TABLE 2. Comparison of shell characters of three representatives of the new European Eocene genus Eocenochelus recognized here: the lower Eocene Eocenochelus lacombianus sp. nov., the middle Eocene Eocenochelus eremberti comb. nov., and the upper Eocene Eocenochelus farresi sp. nov. For more information and detailed comparisons see the text.
| Eo. eremberti | Eo. lacombianus | Eo. farresi | |
| Number of neurals | Al least 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Width of the neurals | Relatively narrow for their length | Relatively wide for their length | Relatively narrow for their length |
| Pubic scar | Long and narrow | Short and oval | Unknown |
| Posterior branch of the ischiatic scar | Poorly-developed | Well-developed in the xiphiplastral point but not reaching its extremity | Well-developed, reaching the xiphiplastral point extremity |
| Epiplastral symphysis | Relatively long | Relatively long | Very short |
| Intergular anterior border | Much narrower than that of each gular | Almost as wide as that of each gular | Almost as wide as that of each gular |
| Latero-posterior region of the humerals on the hyoplastra | Relatively short overlap | Relatively short overlap | Long |
| Posterior plastral lobe | Relatively wide. Subrounded lateral margins | Narrow. Slightly concave lateral margins | Narrow. Slightly convex lateral margins |
| Anal notch | Wide and short, the length being about half of the width. Rounded borders | Wide and short, the length being about half of the width. Straight borders | Deep, being almost as long as wide. Rounded borders |
