恐龍卡第 1491 張，共 2 027 張

Psephochelys

名字的意思： “pebbly turtle”1

吃：魚海生爬蟲類三疊紀晚期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Psephochelys was a turtle-like marine reptile that lived in the Late Triassic period, about 233 to 227 million years ago. It had a shell on its back made of many small bony plates, but no shell on its belly, just loose bones. It swam in warm seas where China is today.1 2

趣味小知識：這種海生爬蟲類在海裡游泳的時候，恐龍正在陸地上走路。大家都叫牠們恐龍，但牠們其實是爬蟲類的另一個分支。

生存年代

234 到 227 百萬年前4

三疊紀晚期

化石發現地

Guizhou Province, China1 2

最高速度

時速約 11 公里（7 英里）

游泳, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

Psephochelys 時速約 11 公里 (7 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Psephochelys is known from only one species, Psephochelys polyosteoderma, and the first fossil was a partial skeleton found in the Falong Formation in China.1

Unlike turtles, Psephochelys had no hard shell on its belly. Instead, it had rib-like bones and small bony plates that were loosely connected.1

A subadult specimen shows that the shell of Psephochelys grew by fusing small plates together, starting from the middle and edges, similar to how a turtle's shell develops.3

Psephochelys belonged to a group called placodonts, which were marine reptiles that looked like turtles but are not closely related to them.1

The name Psephochelys means 'pebbly turtle' because its shell was made of many small, pebble-like bony plates.1

Psephochelys lived during the Carnian age of the Late Triassic, between about 233 and 227 million years ago.2

Psephochelys 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Psephochelys 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

給恐龍專家

學名: Psephochelys
命名者: Li and Rieppel 20024
類群: 海生爬蟲類
科 / 演化支: Placochelyidae4
分類: Placodontia > Sauropterygia4
岩石的年代: 234 到 227 百萬年 (Carnian)4
岩層: Xiaowa4
國家: 中國4
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆4
發現: Psephochelys was named by Chinese paleontologist Chun Li and Swiss paleontologist Olivier Rieppel in 2002, based on a single partial skeleton found in Guizhou, China.1 2
仍有爭議: Scientists are still debating exactly how Psephochelys is related to other placodonts, and whether its shell grew in a way that hints at a common ancestor with turtles.3