Reptiles - Tropical Turtles

Australian turtles are either freshwater or saltwater species. Freshwater turtles are smaller than saltwater turtles, and have clawed feet with strong webbing as opposed to the saltwater species whose legs have been modified to paddle-like flippers.

There are not many species of turtles in Australia - only 16 freshwater species and 6 species of sea turtle. Australia has no land tortoises.

(If you should see a reference for a tortoise elsewhere in your searches, there's no need to be confused - aquatic turtles are actually referred to as tortoises in Australia!)

There are four species of freshwater turtle in the Wet Tropics area. A commonly seen turtle is the Saw-shelled Turtle (Wollumbinia latisternum). The female is considerably larger than the male with a shell length (carapace) up to 28 cm long compared to the males which rarely get bigger than about 18 cm. The shell has marginal serrations which are the reason for its common name, the "Saw-shelled turtle".  It has a large head with a projecting snout and a horny plate on the top. The neck is of a medium length as opposed to a few other Australian species which are known for their very long necks. The neck can fold sideways. The feet are webbed and also clawed.

The Saw-shelled turtle feeds on a variety of material including pandanus fruits, molluscs, crustaceans, fish, tadpoles, frogs, aquatic insects and is one of the few native Australian animals successful in preying on the introduced and very poisonous Cane toad (Rhinella marina). Toads too large to swallow whole are first shredded with their front claws.

The best time to see the freshwater turtles is in the middle of the day when they bask near water surface, or climb onto rocks and logs.