Appearance
The female is considerably larger than the male, with a carapace up to 28 cm long compared to the males which rarely get longer than about 18 cm. The carapace is roughly oval and broad at the rear. They are not usually aggressive, but can bite fiercely. They can also emit a strong smell.The shell has marginal serrations which are the reason for its common name. It retains some of these serrations throughout its life. "The head shield extends down the side of the head to just above the tympanum, and the top of the neck has prominent pointed tubercules."
The carapace is mainly brown to dark brown, commonly with some dark blotches. The plastron is yellowish. The head is large with a projecting snout and a horny plate on the top. The neck can fold sideways. The feet are webbed and also clawed. Hatchlings have serrated hind legs which become smooth as they mature.
Behavior
Like many other aquatic turtles, the saw-shelled turtle is able to obtain oxygen from water through skin, cloaca, and buccopharyngeal cavity, thus extending its ability to stay under water for prolonged periods.Food
The saw-shelled turtle is carnivorous and feeds on fish, tadpoles, frogs, and aquatic insects, and is one of the few native Australian animals successful in preying on the introduced and very poisonous cane toad. Toads too large to swallow whole are first shredded with their front claws.Defense
The females nest from September to December. They can have three to four clutches in one season of 9 to 36 eggs which hatch before winter in about 60 days, with the incubation period shortened in southern regions. The eggs are variably described as either "hard-shelled ", or as small and "flexible-shelled".Evolution
"Myuchelys latisternum"⤷ 1867 "Elseya latisternum" Gray, 1867, holotype, BMNH 1947.3.4.13, from North Australia.
⤷ 1871 "Euchelymys spinosa" Gray, 1871, holotype, BMNH 1946.1.22.77, from North Australia. Synonymy
follows that of Gray and Boulenger.
⤷ 2009 "Myuchelys latisternum" — Thomson & Georges, 2009 First use of combination.
The combination "Wollumbinia latisternum" Wells, 2007, was declared unpublished and hence unavailable for use by Georges & Thomson, 2010.
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