Tingamarra Soft-shelled Turtle (not yet named)
Tingamarra Soft-shelled Turtle.
Illustration: A Musser © Australian Museum.
Lived: 55 million years ago (early Eocene)
Size: Length: 50cm (shell only)
Description: The Tingamarra Soft-shelled Turtle belongs to a group of turtles called trionychids, which have flexible shells. It lived around swampy lakes, eating snakes, frogs, fish and crayfish - and it could swim fast in pursuit of its prey.
Soft-shelled turtles died out in Australia in the Pleistocene, around 40,000 years ago. The Tingamarra Soft-shelled Turtle's closest living relatives include the Elegant Soft-shelled Turtle (Cyclanorbis elegans) of South Africa.
Fossils: Fossils of the Tingamarra Soft-shelled Turtle, including a complete shell, have been found at Murgon in south-eastern Queensland.
Did you know?: Living relatives of the Tingamarra Soft-shelled Turtle spend much of their time underwater, wedged between logs or rocks and patiently waiting for their prey.
