Trionyx triunguis

The African softshell turtle, or Nile softshell turtle, is a large species of softshell turtle from freshwater and brackish-water habitats in Africa and the Near East. It is the only extant species in the genus Trionyx; historically, despite other species having been formerly placed in this genus as well, they have all been reclassified to other genera.

Trionyx triunguis

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
African softshell turtlePBDB
Sits inside
TrionyxPBDB
Diet
piscivore, carnivorePBDB, for Trionychidae
Life habit
aquatic, solitaryPBDB, for Trionychidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Trionychidae
Environment
brackish,freshwaterPBDB, for Trionychidae

Time the record covers

At least 27 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 24 occurrencesOligocene — about 2 of 24 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 13 of 24 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 24 occurrencesPleistocene — about 7 of 24 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.3–1.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 4 occurrences27.3 Mya11.7 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

24 occurrences of Trionyx triunguis on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

24 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

7 formations

Gabal Silsila — 24.43°N, 32.95°EGabal Silsila — 24.77°N, 32.95°EGebel Silsila-YCS — 24.50°N, 33.00°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°ETuglu — 40.61°N, 33.63°EBohlen — 51.19°N, 12.46°EKoobi Fora — 4.42°N, 36.25°ESahabi — 30.14°N, 20.75°E

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The named rock units Trionyx triunguis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 15 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Trionyx triunguis and its relatives

Miocene

Where Trionyx triunguis and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

161 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 24 sites for Trionyx triunguis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

11 references

Each of the 24 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Trionyx triunguis

Credit
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Trionyx triunguis · pchp:4559

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itTrionyx through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Forksal 1775