English: Life restoration of the Late Triassic turtle Proterochersis laying at the bottom of a dried up riverbed. On the river bank, a coelophysid dinosaur are lurking, while a pair of pterosaurs are flying by among the trees.
Head: the head is mostly based on skull drawings of Proganochelys.[1] I also chose to depict Proterochersis without visible teeth (while Odontochelys possessed teeth, Proganochelys were almost toothless (except some teeth in the vomer and pterygoid).
Shell: the shell is mostly based on restorations from Szczygielski et.al. (2018).[2]
Limbs: as far as I know, remains of Proterochersis limb bones are limited. Because of this, the legs, feet and claws are speculative.
Tail: the "long" tail is speculative: while many extant species of giant tortoise have little to no tail, snapping turtles (family Cheydridae) possess fairly long tails, as do the extinct Proganochelys and Meiolania. I have restored Proterochersis with a well-developed tail, as the upper shell (carpace) of Proterochersis have a crescent-shaped incurvation posteriorly – probably to make space for a protruding tail. Other paleoartists have also restored Proterochersis with a long tail.[3]
↑Szczygielski T et.al. (2018). "Shell variability in the stem turtles Proterochersis spp". PeerJ6:e6134. doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6134
↑Bajdek P et.al. (2019). "Bromalites from a turtle-dominated fossil assemblage from the Triassic of Poland". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology '520: p. 214-228. doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.02.002
to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.