Meiolania (SciiFii)

The tank-turtle (Meiolania modernus, name meaning "modern small roamer") is a species of reptile that originally lived in Australia, Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia during the Middle Miocene to Late Pleistocene, possibly Holocene, and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and reintroduced to the modern coastal scrublands, grasslands, open woodlands, swamps, and forests of Australia, Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia to help boost biodiversity. Despite its name, it is not a turtle, but a stem-turtle, and the family it belongs to lie outside crown group Testudines (turtles and tortoises), having diverged from them around the Middle Jurassic. It is a rather large animal, with the Australian subspecies, the Australian tank-turtle (Meiolania modernus australiensis), based on the extinct Meiolania brevicollis and an unnamed species, growing up to about 2 metres (6.6 ft) in carapace length, while the second subspecies of both New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island, the island tank-turtle (Meiolania modernis insularis), based on the extinct Meiolania mackayi and Meiolania platyceps, growing only to be about 70 centimetres (2.3 ft) in carapace length. The tank-turtle has a heavily armored heads and tail for better defense against any possible predators, however, those armor prevents it from tucking in its head or tail. The tank-turtle is an amphibious animal, spending much of its time on land as much as in water, filling the ecological niche similar to Galápagos marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), based on the recent studies of the original species, which may have being amphibious. The tank-turtle is a herbivore that primarily feeds on leaves, cacti, and aquatic plants. The conservation status of the Australian tank-turtle is Vulnerable, while the island tank-turtle is listed as Endangered, both due to habitat loss and overcollection, leading the population of island tank-turtles on Lord Howe Island to be listed as Critically Endangered. However, thanks to conservationists, the tank-turtles of both subspecies are protected by the law, their numbers are increasing as an effect.
Category:Animals
Category:SciiFii