Black Marsh Turtle

Open encyclopedia reference

Siebenrockiella crassicollis (commonly known as black marsh turtle, smiling terrapin, and Siamese temple turtle, among others) is a freshwater turtle endemic to Southeast Asia. It is one of 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 head. 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.

Wikipedia contributors, Black marsh turtle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:13:42.982047+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Siebenrockiella crassicollis (Gray, 1831)

Name authority

(Gray, 1831)

Common name

Black Marsh Turtle

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Testudines

Family

Geoemydidae

Genus

Siebenrockiella

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderTestudines Batsch, 1788
10. suborderCryptodira
11. superfamilyTestudinoidea
12. familyGeoemydidae
13. genusSiebenrockiella
14. speciesSiebenrockiella crassicollis (Gray, 1831)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Siebenrockiella. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 57 records assigned to Geoemydidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Siebenrockiella&species=crassicollis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4X9RS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.