The northern yellow-faced turtle (''Emydura tanybaraga'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of medium-sized aquatic turtle in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Chelidae Chelidae is one of three living families of the turtle suborder Pleurodira, and are commonly called Austro-South American side-neck turtles. The family is distributed in Australia, New Guinea, parts of Indonesia, and throughout most of South Amer ...

. It inhabits slow-flowing rivers, streams,

billabong Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...

s and paperbark swamps across much of northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

''E. tanybaraga'' has a great morphological variation between different locations; adults are very similar in appearance to '' E. subglobosa''. A light yellow band runs from the eye to just above the tympanum. Another band extends from the angle of the mouth along the neck. The eye has dark markings through the iris at the level of the pupil. The

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

of juveniles is pear-shaped and becomes oval in adults. It is light brown to dark brown in color, with a yellow or white rim. The posterior rim is smooth, without serrations. The longest carapace recorded is 285 mm. The plastron is tapered towards the rear with lobes at both ends turned up making the adult turtle look deeper. It is bone colored, occasionally with traces of pink. The color of the dorsal skin is gray, and the ventral skin is creamy white or yellow in juveniles. As with other species of ''Emydura'', the neck is covered with small smooth tubercles. Two

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whiskerlike sensory organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and some ...

are sometimes found on the chin.

References

tanybaraga Reptiles described in 1997 Turtles of Australia {{Turtle-stub