Leyte Pond Turtle

Open encyclopedia reference

Siebenrockiella leytensis is a species of freshwater turtle endemic to the Philippines. It is classified as critically endangered. It is known as the Philippine forest turtle, the Philippine pond turtle, the Palawan turtle, or the Leyte pond turtle. Despite the latter common name, it does not occur in the island of Leyte but is instead native to the Palawan island group. It is locally known as bakoko in Cuyonon.

Philippine forest turtles are readily recognizable by their ginkgo-shaped vertebral scutes and a pale white to yellow line traversing across its head behind the ears. The previous characteristic has earned it the nickname of 'bowtie turtle'.

Philippine forest turtles are classified under the subgenus Panyaenemys. Together with the smiling terrapin (Siebenrockiella crassicollis), it is one of the two species in the genus Siebenrockiella.

Wikipedia contributors, Philippine forest turtle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:10:44.099230+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Siebenrockiella leytensis (Taylor, 1920)

Name authority

(Taylor, 1920)

Common name

Leyte Pond 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 leytensis (Taylor, 1920)

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=leytensis 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:4X9RT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.