[7] Philippine forest turtles are readily recognizable by their ginkgo-shaped vertebral scutes and a pale white to yellow line traversing across its head behind the ears.

[8][10] The skin of the legs, body, and neck are rough in appearance, being covered in tiny tubercles.

[11] A thin white to pale yellow line traverses through the width of the head just behind the openings of the ears, it may be divided at the center in some individuals.

They can be distinguished from all other turtles by their strongly projecting epiplastra, vertebral scutes shaped like ginkgo leaves, the absence of temporal arches in the skull, and the aforementioned light lines behind its head.

[9] Philippine forest turtles were first described by the American herpetologist Edward Harrison Taylor in 1920 as Heosemys leytensis.

Believing that the turtle got there through interisland trade, numerous herpetologists searched Southern Leyte for other individuals.

[3][10] In 2001, during an assessment of endemic wildlife of the island of Palawan, live specimens of Philippine forest turtles were rediscovered.

Diesmos et al. (2004) have concluded that Taylor and/or Lopez may have somehow confused the type locality of the original specimens.

[3][5] Due to its rarity and its status as newly rediscovered, little is known of the life cycle of the Philippine forest turtle.

From observations, however, Philippine forest turtles appear to exhibit long life spans and high adult survival rates.

[5] Captive adults confiscated from illegal traders were provided a large outside pool with well planted islands and numerous underwater rock formations in Malabon Zoo in Manila.

Due to the previous inability to locate it in the wild, probable threats from habitat loss, and potential pressure from collectors, this turtle is listed as critically endangered.

Due to the susceptibility of the species to stress and the extremely aggressive territorial behavior of male individuals, Philippine forest turtles do not do well in captivity.

[15] These animals had been collected from mud wallows in northern Palawan, and it is believed that they hide during the daylight hours.

Additionally, many specimens (from Palawan) offered for sale had small holes bored in the carapace, indicating that some at least had been held captive as pets and tethered accordingly.

The unconfirmed existence of illegal trade of Palawan turtles to Borneo, Malaysia, is also a cause of concern.

[10] Trade is banned internationally under the CITES convention, as well as domestically under the Philippines Wildlife Act.

It is hoped that this may prove to reduce the collection of various endangered species, including the Philippines Pond Turtle.