Siebenrockiella
Genus of reptiles. Siebenrockiella crassicollis (commonly known as black marsh turtle, smiling terrapin, and Siamese temple turtle, among others) is a freshwater turtle endemic to Southeast Asia.
All edits by Vladislav Vitalevich Savelkaev
Siebenrockiella
Genus of reptiles
Genus of reptiles. Siebenrockiella crassicollis (commonly known as black marsh turtle, smiling terrapin, and Siamese temple turtle, among others) is a freshwater turtle endemic to Southeast Asia.
Siebenrockiella crassicollis (commonly known as black marsh turtle, smiling terrapin, and Siamese temple turtle, among others) is a freshwater turtle endemic to Southeast Asia. One of the two species classified under the genus Siebenrockiella in the family Geoemydidae.
Black marsh turtles are small to medium-sized turtles that are almost completely black except for white to yellow markings on the hea d. They are largely aquatic and prefer slow-moving or still bodies of water with heavy vegetation. Black marsh turtles are also commonly kept as pets and as sacred animals in Southeast Asian Buddhist temples.
They are classified as endangered by the IUCN, being one of the several Southeast Asian turtle species heavily exploited for the international wildlife trade, particularly for food and traditional medicine in the Chinese markets
Taxonomy and nomenclature
Formerly under the genus Emys, black marsh turtles are now classified under Siebenrockiella. They were first described by the British zoologist John Edward Gray from three specimens from the collections of Thomas Bell.Black marsh turtles used to be monotypic within the genus Siebenrockiella until Diesmos et al. (2005) showed based on genetic studies and morphology, that the recently rediscovered and critically endangered Philippine forest turtles, until that time known as Heosemys leytensis, were actually very closely related. Philippine forest turtles were subsequently reassigned to Siebenrockiella under the subgenus Panyaenemys.
They are classified under the subfamily Geoemydinae under the family Geoemydidae. Black marsh turtles are cryptodires, having the ability to pull their heads straight back into the shells; instead of folding their necks sideways along the body like in pleurodiran turtles.
The specific epithet "crassicollis" comes from Latin crassus ("thick") and collum ("neck"). The generic name was coined in honor of the Austrian zoologist Friedrich Siebenrock.
Siebenrockiella crassicollis are known by a variety of vernacular names among hobbyists, such as black terrapin, black mud turtle, Malaysian black mud turtle, fat-headed turtle, thick-necked turtle, and Borneo black leaf turtle. They are also known as kura-kura pipi-putih in Indonesian.
Find more entities like Siebenrockiella
