Trionyx

Trionyx is a genus of softshell turtles belonging to the family Trionychidae. In the past many species in the family were classified in this genus, but today T. triunguis, the African or Nile softshell turtle, is the only extant softshell still classified as Trionyx. The other species still assigned to this genus are only known from fossils. T. triunguis is a relatively large, aquatic piscivore.

Trionyx

Tragopan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
Sits inside
TrionychinaePBDB
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 121 million years on record.

The record covers at least 121.4 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 125.77 Mya to 0 Mya.

Early Cretaceous — about 3 of 421 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 87 of 421 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 17 of 421 occurrencesEocene — about 90 of 421 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 29 of 421 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 137 of 421 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 17 of 421 occurrencesPleistocene — about 38 of 421 occurrences128–124 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences124–120 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences120–115 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences115–111 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences111–107 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences107–103 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences103–98 Mya — about 3 occurrences98–94 Mya — about 4 occurrences94–90 Mya — about 4 occurrences90–86 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences86–81 Mya — about 18 occurrences81–77 Mya — about 22 occurrences77–73 Mya — about 22 occurrences73–68 Mya — about 9 occurrences68–64 Mya — about 12 occurrences64–60 Mya — about 4 occurrences60–56 Mya — about 6 occurrences56–51 Mya — about 15 occurrences51–47 Mya — about 24 occurrences47–43 Mya — about 11 occurrences43–38 Mya — about 10 occurrences38–34 Mya — about 26 occurrences34–30 Mya — about 14 occurrences30–26 Mya — about 11 occurrences26–21 Mya — about 16 occurrences21–17 Mya — about 28 occurrences17–13 Mya — about 51 occurrences13–8.6 Mya — about 33 occurrences8.6–4.3 Mya — about 19 occurrences4.3–0 Mya — about 55 occurrences121.4 Mya11.7 ka128 Mya0 Mya

421 occurrences of Trionyx 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

421 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

112 formations

Kirtland — 36.37°N, 108.57°WKirtland — 36.31°N, 108.08°WKirtland — 36.27°N, 108.17°WKirtland — 36.50°N, 108.08°WKirtland — 36.20°N, 108.10°WKirtland — 36.17°N, 107.91°WKirtland — 36.14°N, 108.11°WKirtland — 36.29°N, 108.54°WKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.26°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 4.29°N, 36.23°EKoobi Fora — 3.77°N, 36.44°EKoobi Fora — 3.78°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 3.94°N, 36.25°EKoobi Fora — 4.18°N, 36.42°EKoobi Fora — 4.42°N, 36.25°EBridger — 41.54°N, 109.80°WBridger — 41.60°N, 109.97°WBridger — 41.20°N, 110.50°WBridger — 41.77°N, 110.33°WHeadon Beds — 50.72°N, 1.59°WBaynunah — 23.07°N, 52.53°EBaynunah — 24.18°N, 52.57°EBaynunah — 24.12°N, 52.78°EBaynunah — 24.11°N, 52.44°EBaynunah — 24.16°N, 53.01°EBaynunah — 24.00°N, 52.33°ENemegt — 43.44°N, 100.37°ENemegt — 43.87°N, 100.01°ENemegt — 43.47°N, 99.83°ENemegt — 43.82°N, 99.98°ENemegt — 43.57°N, 100.48°ENemegt — 43.54°N, 99.60°EBostobe — 45.95°N, 64.65°EBostobe — 46.48°N, 64.43°EBostobe — 46.57°N, 63.87°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.44°N, 11.04°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 47.67°N, 8.93°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 47.92°N, 10.59°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.16°N, 10.11°EFruitland — 36.12°N, 107.78°WFruitland — 36.29°N, 108.55°WMaboko — 0.17°N, 34.62°EMaboko — 0.13°S, 34.61°EMaboko — 0.15°N, 34.62°EKhodzhakul — 40.10°N, 65.80°EDenver — 39.75°N, 105.22°WDenver — 38.80°N, 104.80°WDenver — 38.89°N, 104.60°WDenver — 39.63°N, 104.33°WDenver — 39.50°N, 104.70°WXiacaowan — 33.45°N, 118.20°ENacimiento — 36.07°N, 107.97°WNacimiento — 36.35°N, 108.10°WEibiswald — 46.69°N, 15.26°EEibiswald — 46.75°N, 15.51°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°EGabal Silsila — 24.43°N, 32.95°EGabal Silsila — 24.77°N, 32.95°ECypress Hills — 49.57°N, 109.88°WBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EYalovach — 40.49°N, 69.70°EBissekty — 42.12°N, 62.66°EKirtland? — 36.29°N, 108.54°WChmielnik — 50.51°N, 20.71°EChmielnik — 50.53°N, 20.77°EChmielnik — 50.56°N, 20.77°EElmore — 50.80°N, 1.20°W

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The named rock units Trionyx has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 88 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 165 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Trionyx and its relatives

Miocene

Where Trionyx and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,319 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 378 sites for Trionyx, and this reads 240 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

184 references

Each of the 421 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. 172 further references are not listed. 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

Credit
Tragopan
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
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

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itTrionychinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1809