Skip to content
Lumisia Animals
← Find animals
Amphibians and reptiles

Yellow-headed temple turtle

Amazing fact

The yellow-headed temple turtle lives in wet forests and freshwater wetlands.

Naples Zoo
Yellow-headed temple turtle in its habitat (illustration)

No sign-up needed. You can save notes on this device.

An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

The yellow-headed temple turtle lives in wet forests and freshwater wetlands.

SourceNaples Zoo — Yellow Headed Temple Turtle

Check your card before sharing

Preparing your card…

The card and link show only the animal and its discovery. Check them with a grown-up before you send them.

THE REAL WORLD

The real Yellow-headed temple turtle

Scientific name
Heosemys annandalii
Japanese name
ヒジリガメ
Group
Amphibians and reptiles
Class
Reptilia
Order
Testudines
Family
Geoemydidae
Genus
Heosemys
Facts about the real animal.
01

It lives in southern Thailand, Cambodia, southern Laos and Vietnam, and northern Malaysia.

鳥羽水族館 — ヒジリガメ
02

It is often kept in the ponds of Thai temples, which is how it got its Japanese name, meaning "holy turtle."

鳥羽水族館 — ヒジリガメ

How the Yellow-headed temple turtle lives

It eats leafy vegetation.

Naples Zoo

Basic data

Range
Southern Thailand, Cambodia, southern Laos, southern Vietnam, and northern Malaysia
鳥羽水族館

Where the Yellow-headed temple turtle has been recorded

World map with dots where the Yellow-headed temple turtle has been recorded
Each dot marks a place with observations or specimens shared on GBIF. Some records are of animals that strayed or were brought by people, so the dots are not always where the animal lives.

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesAsiaRivers and wetlands

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

简体中文
庙龟
繁體中文
廟龜
Bahasa Indonesia
Kura-kura Tokong

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

Report a mistake

RELATIVES

Others in Geoemydidae

Giant Asian pond turtle in its habitat (illustration)

Giant Asian pond turtle

Japanese pond turtle in its habitat (illustration)

Japanese pond turtle

Reeves' pond turtle in its habitat (illustration)

Reeves' pond turtle

Amboina box turtle in its habitat (illustration)

Amboina box turtle

Chinese box turtle in its habitat (illustration)

Chinese box turtle

Golden coin turtle in its habitat (illustration)

Golden coin turtle

Black-breasted leaf turtle in its habitat (illustration)

Black-breasted leaf turtle

Asian yellow pond turtle in its habitat (illustration)

Asian yellow pond turtle

MORE TO MEET

More animals to meet

Shoebill in its habitat (illustration)

Shoebill

Common kingfisher in its habitat (illustration)

Common kingfisher

Blakiston's fish owl in its habitat (illustration)

Blakiston's fish owl

Capybara in its habitat (illustration)

Capybara