# Sawshelled turtle (*Myuchelys latisternum*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/sawshelled-turtle  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

The sawshelled turtle (Myuchelys latisternum) is a species in the family Chelidae, order Testudines. Recorded adults weigh about 1.38 kg and live up to 16.2 years.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.38 kg |
| Length | up to 28 cm |
| Lifespan | 16.2 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 26.6 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Egg incubation | 69 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 9 – 20 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Introduced range

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 1 country. Introduced: Australia. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Testudines
- family: Chelidae
- genus: Myuchelys
- species: *Myuchelys latisternum* (Gray, 1867)

Synonyms: *Elseya latisternum*, *Emydura latisternum*, *Emydura signata*, *Euchelymys spinosa*, *Wollumbinia dorsii*, *Wollumbinia latisternum*

## Common questions

### How big is the sawshelled turtle?

An adult sawshelled turtle weighs 1.38 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### How long does the sawshelled turtle live?

The sawshelled turtle has a recorded lifespan of 16.2 years.

### Is the sawshelled turtle an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the sawshelled turtle as introduced in 1 country: Australia, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

### What kind of animal is the sawshelled turtle?

The sawshelled turtle (Myuchelys latisternum) belongs to the family Chelidae in the order Testudines.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)](https://griis.org/), CC BY 4.0, 2026-11-13. Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4

Cite as: Sawshelled turtle (Myuchelys latisternum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sawshelled-turtle