Lord Howe's Cowturtle

Meiolania is from Greek for small roamer.

Meiolania had an unusually shaped skull that sported many knob-like and horn-like protrusions. Two large horns faced sideways, and would have prevented the animal fully withdrawing its head into its shell. The tail was protected by armored 'rings', and sported thorn-like spikes at the end. The body form of Meiolania may be viewed as having converged towards those of dinosaurian ankylosaurids and xenarthran glyptodonts.

Their demise's timing and reasons are still unknown. The Teouma Lapita archaeological site on the island of Efate in Vanuatu has layers dating from 3,100/3,000 calibrated years before the present to roughly 2,900/2,800 calibrated years before the present that contain the remains of meiolaniid turtles. Leg bones make up the majority of the remains; there are few shell fragments and no cranial or caudal components, indicating that the turtles were butchered elsewhere. In comparison to previous named insular terrestrial horned turtles, the new taxon is noticeably different.

Meiolania had strong limbs and a skeleton that could support weight, and it was mostly terrestrial. Meiolania were unlikely to travel great distances since they lacked aquatic adaptations like flippers. However, island dispersal might be explained by passive rafting on vegetation mats, and their slow, deliberate locomotion seemed appropriate for land. Their main "ability" was strong defense and Meiolania used their clubbed, spiked tails as a mace to fight off predators and competing males when they were threatened.

Meiolania is thought to have fed on plants, and they and other meiolaniids have been generally assumed to be fully terrestrial, though acceptance of this is not universal. Similar to many modern testudinoids, Meiolania platyceps has a palate ornamented with several rows of serrated ridges, which is suggestive of a herbivorous diet.

Meiolania laid large, spherical aragonitic eggs (a rare mineral for fossil eggs) in excavated hole nests on beaches or in soft soil.

The horns and frills allude to intricate display behaviors or intraspecific conflict (males battling for mates). Meiolania would not have been "aggressive" toward people because they are slow-moving herbivores, but Meiolania have been hazardous if provoked. Sadly, the Lapita people in particular saw them only as a source of food. Meiolania leg bones found in Vanuatu's archaeological "middens" (garbage heaps) indicate that they were hunted and killed.

• Overhunting: For the island species (Meiolania sp.), humans were the primary cause. They were wiped out within ~200 years of human arrival.

• Climate Change: On mainland Australia, the species likely vanished due to the gradual drying of the continent and loss of habitat during the Pleistocene.

Several hundred specimens of a Meiolania species were discovered on Lord Howe Island in Australia during nearly continuous collection. One of the primary sources of knowledge about this group is that it is the only meiolaniid whose entire skeleton is known. Meiolania platyceps, the best-known species, was discovered in Lord Howe Island's Pleistocene strata from hundreds of individuals. Lord Howe Island is believed to have been deserted and unknown to Polynesian peoples of the South Pacific prior to European discovery and occupation.

During The Recollections of Queen Arianna (TROQA) saga in the 2600s and 2700s, the "Sky People," or Terrans from Earth, brought Meiolania sp. to two exoplanets that resembled Earth: Berbania from Ursa Major and Reinachos from Cygnus. Despite the death of our planet, conservation efforts are helping this species recover from endangerment or near extinction. Meiolania became an invasive species as a result of human interactions for game hunting and rewilding. In two exoplanets that resembled Earth, Meiolania sp. lived in conditions and climates identical to those of Earth.

• Movement Pattern: Not Migrant

• Individual Type: Solo

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: 

  • Earth: 0

  • Berbania: 0-12

  • Reinachos: 4,000

• Locomotion: Amphibious

• Habitat: Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests; Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Stone Forest; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests.

• Earth: 

  • Extinct: Australia (Lord Howe Island)

With the possible exception of a few islands where people may have come across and hunted it in the late Holocene, Meiolania is extinct and has never interacted with humans. Its vast size and terrestrial habitat would make it an uncommon pet in our universe; space, nutrition, and conservation requirements would make it unsuitable as a household animal.

Bereshit - 75,000 BCE

The First Civilization, also known as the Isu race, which had been hunting ground sloths for sport from prehistoric times on both Earth and Everrealm, wiped them out before Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure series and the sequels related to Rapunzel. Since the Lord Howe Island is inaccessible to the First Civilization, Meiolania platyceps was excluded from the game known as venationes, unlike the majority of Pleistocene animals that were incorporated into the game during the Bereshit era. Only two species of Meiolania will be included in venatio.

2021 Renders

Coming soon

In 2025

• Physical Appearance

  • This year, Meiolania platyceps had a slightly different appearance because the genus Meiolania may have the same color schemes as Aldabra and Galapagos tortoises, with gray being the preferred color due to countershading and camouflage against both natural and introduced predators such as crocodiles, pythons, dogs, cats, eagles, sea lions, humans, and sea snakes.

  • Meiolania platyceps' two small horns were its primary feature, which is why I altered the creature's appearance to resemble an armored dinosaur-like scum bag rather than a real turtle.

• Others

  • The ability, ecology, behavior, and habitat were remaining unchanged.

• The first Meiolaniformes Ognimdo has ever drawn.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiolania

• https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/bobby_darin_314968?src=t_turtle 

• https://prehistoric-fauna.com/Meiolania

• http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=253379

• https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1005780107

• https://www.mindat.org/taxon-8768424.html

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Meiolania-877702309

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Meiolania-platyceps-2025-1254347759