Indian Black Turtle

The Indian black turtle, or Indian pond terrapin, is a medium-sized freshwater turtle of South Asia, found in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal. The shell is dark brown, green or grey, not just black, and head colour varies, with pink or yellow spots depending on the subspecies. The average shell is about 6 inches (15cm) long and the whole body about a foot (Wikipedia, general species account).

Five subspecies are recognised with overlapping distributions, including the Bangladesh black turtle, which occurs in India and Nepal. It lives in many kinds of water body, from still or moving water to less aquatic places, and is omnivorous. It is most active at the start or end of the day and spends much of the day basking. Two to six clutches of eggs are laid in burrows each year.