In 1909, the famous paleontologist Louis Dollo identified two putative new species of giant soft-shelled turtles from the lowest Eocene record of Belgium, ‘Trionyx erquelinnensis’ and ‘Trionyx levalensis’, from Erquelinnes and Leval, respectively. However, these proposals did not meet the requirements of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, so they were considered as nomina nuda. The information on these specimens or about any other specimen of this lineage of giant turtles from the Belgian record is currently extremely limited. Relatively scarce material from giant trionychids has been described for the lower Eocene record of other European regions. Considering the available information, all the European material has recently been recognized as belonging to the genus Axestemys, which has a North American origin, and possibly attributable to a single species, Axestemys vittata, which currently lacks a diagnosis. Numerous and well-preserved Belgian specimens are deposited in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. In addition to the cited individuals from Erquelinnes and Leval, additional specimens from both localities, as well as others from Orp-le-Grand, are part of this collection. These specimens, found between the decades of 1910 and 1930, have been recently restored, and their study is carried out here. The presence of Axestemys vittata in Belgium (in Leval and Orp-le-Grand) is confirmed. Knowledge about this species is significantly improved, and a diagnosis is proposed. However, the hypothesis proposed by Dollo is here confirmed, this species being not the only identified in the Belgian record. So, Axestemys erquelinnensis nov. sp. is defined based on the carapace from Erquelinnes known by Dollo, suggesting that the genus probably reached Europe during the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum.

1909 年，著名古生物学家路易斯·多洛 (Louis Dollo) 从比利时始新世最低记录中确定了两种推定的巨型甲壳龟新种，分别来自 Erquelinnes 和 Leval 的“ Trionyx erquelinnensis ”和“ Trionyx Levalensis ”。但是，这些提案不符合《国际动物命名法典》的要求，因此被认为是无名指. 目前关于这些标本或来自比利时记录的巨龟谱系的任何其他标本的信息极为有限。欧洲其他地区的始新世早期记录描述了来自巨型三爪动物的相对稀缺的材料。考虑到现有信息，所有欧洲材料最近都被确认为属于Axestemys属，该属起源于北美，可能属于单一物种Axestemys vittata，目前缺乏诊断。许多保存完好的比利时标本存放在比利时皇家自然科学研究所。除了来自 Erquelinnes 和 Leval 的引用个体之外，来自这两个地区的其他标本以及来自 Orp-le-Grand 的其他标本也是该收藏的一部分。这些在 1910 年至 1930 年间发现的标本最近得到了修复，他们的研究就在这里进行。的存在Axestemys蜈蚣在比利时（在勒瓦尔和ORP勒大）被确认。关于该物种的知识显着提高，并提出了诊断。然而，多洛提出的假设在这里得到证实，这个物种并不是比利时记录中唯一确定的物种。所以，紫锥虫十一月 sp. 根据 Dollo 所知的 Erquelinnes 的甲壳定义，表明该属可能在古新世始新世热最大值期间到达欧洲。