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North-western Red-faced Tortoise - Emydura Australis

Distribution -
The actual location from which the first Emydura Australis was described is unknown and this has resulted in much confusion in its positive identification from similar northern short-neck tortoises. Its range is from the Fitzroy River, Western Australia, to the Daly River, Northern Territory.

The head of a North-western Red-faced Tortoise
(Emydura Australis), from Mount Elizabeth Station,
Kimberley, WA.

Description -
Most Australian tortoises have one or more common names and Emydura Australis is no exception. The two most commonly used - "Red-faced" Tortoise and "Boof-head" Tortoise - are both misleading. A different tortoise with similar red facial markings occurs in the waterways emptying into the Gulf of Carpentaria east and west of the Queensland-Northern Territory border. The name "Boof-head" Tortoise is even less accurate as it is usually the female which develops an exceptionally large head, and then only as she approaches old age; some other short-neck tortoises also develop this distinctive characteristic with age.

Superficially, a medium sized Emydura Australis often resembles Krefft's Tortoise, but the facial stripes are pinkish red, not yellow, and the structure of the head is markedly different. On the roof of the mouth of Emydura Australis a hard plate extends from the front to about midway back forming a secondary palate; other Emydura species are not similarly equipped. With the exception of aged specimens, the plate, or sheath, forms only a narrow band along the upper jaw. Another distinguishing feature of Emydura Australis is the thickness of the mandibles (lower jawbones) at the symphysis in comparison with other tortoises. By gently pressing the skin on the throat the outline of the mandibles become visible.

A juvenile North-western Red-faced Tortoise
(Emydura Australis), from Timber Creek, WA.

Variation throughout its range is considerable: a female that was collected in the Ord River, Western Australia, with a carapace length of 22.2cm had a much smaller head than a 19.5cm female collected in the Daly River, Northern Territory. The carapace colouring is light to dark brownish and may be smooth or somewhat coarse, depending on the location.

The young are attractive, more intensely coloured than the adults and have slightly serrated marginals on the rear half of the carapace. The pink-red stripe fades with age.

The group comprising Emydura Australis and other similar northern short-neck tortoises is perhaps in more need of taxonomic revision than any other.