Pappochelys

The word Pappochelys in Greek: παπποχέλυς [πάππος (grandfather) + χέλυς (turtle)] meaning "grandfather turtle", due to their primitive traits from all turtle species. The binomial species: rosinae is named in honor of Rosina Schoch, the wife of paleontologist Rainer Schoch.

Also known by Germans, Swiss, Dutch, Norwegians, and Danes as Altburdaling in TROQA saga (post-2100s) of Earth Responsibly universe.

• Singular: altburdaling

• Plural: altburdalingar

Pappochelys had a wide body, small skull, and a long tail that makes up about half of the total body length, which is up to 20 centimeters (8 in). The skull is pointed with large eye sockets. Several turtle-like features are present, including expanded ribs and gastralia that seem to be precursors of a shell. As is the case in Eunotosaurus, each rib is flattened into a broad blade-like structure with bumps and ridges covering its outer surface and a ridge running down its inner surface, forming a T-shape in cross section. The gastralia (rib-like bones covering the abdomen) are tightly packed and occasionally fused together, forming a structure similar to the plastron of turtles.

Unlike turtles, Pappochelys has teeth in its jaws and two pairs of holes in the back of the skull called temporal fenestrae. The presence of two pairs of fenestrae make the skull of Pappochelys diapsid, as opposed to the anapsid skulls of turtles that lack any temporal fenestrae.

Unlike tortoises or terrapins, Pappochelys were mostly terrestrial animals that could dig or push through leaf litter with their legs and claws. They were probably sluggish but sturdy walkers. Because it lacked flippers, webbing, and a hydrodynamic shell, Pappochelys was a poor swimmer. It only had a tail and long legs, which may have allowed it to momentarily float or paddle, but it was not adapted to aquatic life.

In Rapunzel's universe, the opponent gets drenched when the sea turtle shoots a tiny stream of water out of its mouth.

Because Pappochelys lived on the ground and were carnivorous, their diet probably consisted of insects, small vertebrates, worms, hard-shelled invertebrates, and potentially fish. They play a part in the ecosystem of this species as scavengers, small predators, and prey for larger Triassic reptiles.

Reproduction

No fossilized eggs have been found, but as a primitive reptile, it almost certainly laid eggs on land, likely in soft mud or sand near its lake habitat.

• Reproduction type: Egg-laying (oviparous)

• Eggs: Soft- or semi-hard shelled

• Parental care: Likely none, possibly influenced from contemporary tegus or iguanas

• Nesting: Shallow burrows or hidden soil nests

Pappochelys was most likely diurnal (active during the day) and solitary. Their primary defensive traits include hiding or burrowing, biting with powerful jaws, and lacking shell protection because they are turtle ancestors. Its evolving armor indicates that it was a prey species that required defense against the larger Triassic predators (such as frogs or early rauisuchians).

Pappochelys would probably behave like a little, cautious aquatic lizard. It would probably run away at the sight of a human, but it would not be "friendly" in the sense of a mammal. It's interesting to note that a Pappochelys fossil has the earliest known evidence of osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, in a vertebrate, demonstrating that animals had complicated illnesses even 240 million years ago.

Due to the changing conditions during the Late Triassic, Pappochelys vanished. These adapted semi-aquatic forms were replaced by more developed "true" turtles like Proganochelys, which had completely formed shells and could better live in a variety of habitats, as the lake systems in Europe dried up or shifted as a result of tectonic activity and climatic variations.

Their primary causes:

• More advanced stem turtles with better protection;

• Ecological changes during the Late Triassic;

• Evolutionary replacement, not catastrophe;

• and as their lineage survived—it didn’t fail; it evolved.

Fossils of Pappochelys come from a rock group in Germany called the Lower Keuper, which dates to the Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic, approximately 240 million years ago (Ma), and are restricted to a 5 to 15 centimetres (2 to 6 in) layer of organic-rich claystone in an outcrop of the Erfurt Formation in the town of Vellberg.

• Movement Pattern: Not Migrant

• Individual Type: Solo

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: 0

• 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; Salt Flats; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands, Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests; Warm River; Cold River; Lukewarm River; Warm Ghost Town; Cold Ghost Town; Ruined Skyscraper.

• Earth: 

  • Extinct: Germany

All turtles are automatically tamed when hatched from an egg, as the survivor is always within 20 radius of the sac hatching. If the tortoise is somehow not tamed at birth, it can be tamed with a whip, any plant materials, buds, jellyfishes, seaweeds, or eggshells.

TBA

• TBA

• One of the few animals with a binomial name that a male scientist named and honored after their own wife is Pappochelys rosinae.

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

• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-46762-z

• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20220069

• https://eol.org/pages/52570427

• https://www.gbif.org/species/8552282

• https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=324090

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Pappochelys-rosinae-1098500322