HOME | DD

TrefRex — Walking with Dinosaurs: Black turtle

Published: 2016-09-06 21:27:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 12444; Favourites: 154; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description Helochelydra nopcsai
Named by France d. Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga, 1999 (Generic name by Nopesa, 1928)
Diet: Omnivore (Plants, insects, fungi, terrestrial snails, and may have searched for decaying plant matter and dinosaur dung to grub)
Type: Solemydid turtle
Size: Carapace lenght of 40 cm
Region: Europe (Isle of Wight England UK)
Age: Early Cretaceous (129 to 125 million BC; Barremian)
Enemies: Theropod dinosaurs such as Eotyrannus; crocodylomorphs such as Anteophthalmosuchus
Episode: Giant of the Skies (Only in the companion book, Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History; as unnamed large, black turtles)
Info: Living in the Wealden floodplains in what is now the Isle of Wight, England (Wessex Formation) alongside dinosaurs such as Iguanodon, Mantellisaurus, Polacanthus, Hypsilophodon, Valdosaurus, Neovenator, Eotyrannus, Baryonyx, and unnamed sauropods and a dromaeosaur, as well as pterosaurs (Istiodactylus and Caulkicephalus) and crocodylomorphs (such as Anteophthalmosuchus, Koumpiodontosuchus, etc.), this Cretaceous turtle was a member of a lesser-known line of turtles with tall-shells known as solemydidae that were found in rocks in North America and Europe dating back to the Late Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous period and the prescence of osteoderms in its legs show that Helochelydra nopcsai was terrestrial, while some solemydids were semi-aquatic. In 2011, a well-preserved skull of Helochelydra nopcsai was found, revealing insight into what this animal and other solemydids were like.

Note: Coloration based on a photograph of a black since it was described being black. Since this was a really, really lesser-known animal, it was hard to find reference.

So yeah, this is another background creature that's absent in the original show, but only appeared in the book Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History (but no picture of it is shown), in which the Ornithocheirus (Tropeognathus) encounters them while laying and resting on an island and later gets driven away by them. They were described as large, carnivorous, black turtles. This was hard to determine what the species is, but according to artist , they were a species from the Wessex Formation called Helochelydra nopcsai. 

Requested by 

Walking with Dinosaurs is owned by BBC
Related content
Comments: 23

Whitedragon66 [2017-11-06 08:51:28 +0000 UTC]

can i with permission publish something similar to this please

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

WWCB [2016-09-15 18:59:02 +0000 UTC]

Here's some suggestions for next time: Steropodon, the South Polar pterosaurs (they could be either Mythunga or Aussiedraco), Velociraptor, Protoceratops, and more.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TrefRex In reply to WWCB [2016-09-17 03:38:26 +0000 UTC]

That's exactly what I'm gonna do!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

animalman57 [2016-09-15 05:01:18 +0000 UTC]

Is Caulkicepalus coming out next?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TrefRex In reply to animalman57 [2016-09-17 03:37:40 +0000 UTC]

Yes!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Cyprus-1 [2016-09-07 09:19:58 +0000 UTC]

Yet another awesome pic of work!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

asari13 [2016-09-07 07:29:47 +0000 UTC]

nice art

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Philoceratops [2016-09-07 03:50:14 +0000 UTC]

BTW, how are you going to render Mansospondylus?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TrefRex In reply to Philoceratops [2016-09-07 13:50:43 +0000 UTC]

The what?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Philoceratops In reply to TrefRex [2016-09-07 17:10:30 +0000 UTC]

Y'know, Tyrannosaurus rex/ Mansospondylus gigas...

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TrefRex In reply to Philoceratops [2016-09-09 03:04:11 +0000 UTC]

Yeah I'll do T. rex soon! At the end of the series

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Philoceratops In reply to TrefRex [2016-09-09 19:22:48 +0000 UTC]

OK

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Pyroraptor42 [2016-09-07 03:12:41 +0000 UTC]

this feel like something from Over The Garden Wall

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TrefRex In reply to Pyroraptor42 [2016-09-07 13:50:20 +0000 UTC]

 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

RickRaptor105 [2016-09-06 22:52:27 +0000 UTC]

Lol do some people really request every single animal that ever made a tiny appearance?

Are you going to look up Jurassic dung beetle species if someone demands you draw that dung beetle that was briefly shown in the sauropod episode? /sarcasm 

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

praearcturus In reply to RickRaptor105 [2017-06-01 16:04:00 +0000 UTC]

if he's done saurophtirus, then what's stopping him from researching blattulid taxa

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

XiaolinDinoMaster [2016-09-06 22:37:46 +0000 UTC]

I wonder who's next.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

multidinoguy [2016-09-06 21:46:31 +0000 UTC]

Hey my fellow Dino-Lover pal! Long time no see! Is It Ok if you we rename the upcoming Tropeognathus you're making "Ornithocheirus"? Please be sure to let me know. Thanks.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TrefRex In reply to multidinoguy [2016-09-06 21:57:28 +0000 UTC]

I'm just gonna call Tropeognathus that's all! Just as I call North American Iguanodon into Dakotadon

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

multidinoguy In reply to TrefRex [2016-09-06 23:21:12 +0000 UTC]

Well, OK. It's your artwork. I was just asking that's all. So when is Tropeognathus coming? Please be sure to let me know. Thanks!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

twoworldsonekingdom [2016-09-06 21:35:32 +0000 UTC]

Interesting creature.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TrefRex In reply to twoworldsonekingdom [2016-09-06 21:57:37 +0000 UTC]

Yes it is!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

twoworldsonekingdom In reply to TrefRex [2016-09-07 03:54:10 +0000 UTC]

I look forward to seeing the next one.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0