Description
See also: Carapace and PlastronPhilippine forest turtles have brown to reddish brown to black carapaces that reach a length of 21 cm (8.3 in). Larger individuals can reach 30 cm (12 in) in length, though this is relatively rare. A dorsal ridge (the keel) is only present in the posterior vertebral scutes or absent altogether. The front margin of the carapace is slightly to strongly serrated, with the marginal scutes projecting beyond the cervical scutes. The vertebral scutes are broader than long.
The plastron is reddish brown to black, sometimes with blotches of yellow. In juveniles, the plastron is a uniform yellow. The bridge (the hinge connecting plastron and carapace) is the same color as the plastron. It is significantly smaller than the carapace and narrow at the front and back. It possesses deep notches between the projecting gular scutes as well as between the gulars and humerals, but it is more distinct in the former.
Its plastral formula is abd > pect > fem > gul > hum > an.
The skin of the legs, body, and neck are rough in appearance, being covered in tiny tubercles. The head is brown in color, sometimes speckled at the temples with light brown, orange, or red spots. A thin white to pale yellow line traverses through the width of the head just behind the openings of the ears, it may be divided at the center in some individuals. This has led to the species being nicknamed as the 'bowtie turtle'. The line is more prominent in younger individuals.
The upper jaw is hooked and the skin on the sides of the neck and the chin are lighter in color. The lower jaw may also sometimes possess a pair of small yellow spots on the sides.
The legs possess irregular enlarged transverse scales and are darker in color at the front. Four transverse scales are present on the forelimbs and more at the hind limbs (though absent at the heels). All limbs are webbed and possess large claws on all toes. The tail is uniformly light brown in color.
Philippine forest turtles are relatively easy to recognize. They can be distinguished from all other turtles by their strongly projecting epiplastra, vertebral scutes shaped like ginkgo leaves, the absence of temporal archs in the skull, and the aforementioned light lines behind its head.
The Malaysian giant turtle (Orlitia borneensis) and the smiling terrapin (Siebenrockiella crassicollis) are the only other turtle species with ginkgo-shaped vertebral scutes, but they do not possess the white to pale yellow line on the back of their heads.
Read more about this topic: Philippine Forest Turtle
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