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.

The object is a predator for turtles based on its dark hue. It cannot tell a black object from a predator, such as a black snake or a Melanesians. Turtles don't like the color black because they believe it might be a predator. The Meiolania's shell serves as both its armor and its most effective defense against many threats from the outside world.

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 is friendly to humans, despite their size and slightly fewer human-related threats than other turtle species.

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.

• 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)

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• 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