All the other species in the family Pelomedusidae, however, do have this feature with which they can, using muscles, close the plastron to the carapace to cover the head and front limbs.
Unlike many chelonians, the African helmeted turtle is able, when it finds itself upside down, to right itself with a vigorous flick of its long muscular neck.
[5] P. subrufa is a semiaquatic animal, living in rivers, lakes, and marshes, and it also occupies rain pools and fertilized places.
[6] The African helmeted turtle is an omnivorous eater and will eat almost anything mainly involving aquatic invertebrates, small fish, and vegetation.
[9] Several large mammals such as warthogs, Cape buffalo, and rhinoceroses have recently been documented utilizing the turtles to remove parasites at popular wallowing holes.
One such incident in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi park involved two African helmeted turtles removing ticks and blood-sucking flies from the body of a wallowing warthog.
Though the turtles probably do not have a symbiotic relationship with these animals, it is very likely that the buffalo, rhinos, and warthogs seek them out and have learned to utilize them from past experiences.
This behavior was documented for the first time in the September 2015 issue of Herpetological Review by Andy and Michelle Leighty Jones.