Taxonomy and Nomenclature
The scientific name of Philippine forest turtles is Siebenrockiella leytensis. It is classified under the genus Siebenrockiella in the subgenus Panyaenemys (frequently misspelled as "Panayanemys" and "Panyanemys"). It belongs to the subfamily Geoemydinae of the family Geoemydidae.
Formerly classified under the genus Heosemys, it was tranferred to the previously monotypic genus Siebenrockiella by Diesmos et al. in 2005 based on morphological and genetic comparison with Siebenrockiella crassicollis.
The subgenus name is derived after the Pala'wan word panya-en. The word was used by a local Palawan resident to describe the turtles in a 2003 survey. The word means 'enchanted', supposedly because Philippine forest turtles were favorite pets of the forest spirits. -emys comes from the Greek word εμύς, meaning 'freshwater turtle'.
The generic name was coined in honor of the Austrian zoologist Friedrich Siebenrock. While the specific name means 'from Leyte'. An erroneous name, as the turtle is actually from the islands of Palawan and is not found in Leyte.
Read more about this topic: Philippine Forest Turtle