Platemys platycephala means "flat turtle, flat-head" and accurately describes the structure of the head and shell.

This species inhabits shallow creek beds and frequently forages on the floor of the Amazon rainforest for insects, amphibians, and mollusks.

Camouflage, head and body shape, and advanced sexual anatomy allow this species of turtle to effectively populate much of South America.

The orange and brown head pattern makes it difficult to spot from above because of similarly colored leaf litter along small pools and creek beds.

Bickham et al. (1993) performed a small-scale cytological survey on the ploidy levels (number of sets of chromosomes) for somatic and gametic cells on a few specimens in Suriname.

[5] The authors examined multiple tissues (spleen, liver, blood, testis) of six specimens (five males, one female) and found cells contained various ploidy levels within and among individuals.

Also, diploid cells exclusively participated in meiosis and subsequent sexual reproduction for males, so balanced gametes and normal fertility occurred.

In a follow-up study, Bickham & Hanks (2009) performed cytogenetic analysis of the twist-necked turtle to determine how widespread this process is throughout South America, and discovered normal diploid populations exist in Bolivia, while variable mosaic populations persist in Suriname.

Additionally, Darr et al. (2006) found turtle populations from French Guiana had increased triploid frequency compared to both Bolivia and Suriname.

[8] Several hypotheses were tested using phylogenetic data from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), but a high level of divergence was found for the three monophyletic populations.

The twist-necked turtle inhabits a large area throughout northern and central South America, from the southern Orinoco drainage in Venezuela to the Amazon basin.

During these climatic changes of glaciation, the northern rainforests of South America received less rainfall and deteriorated, then subsequently expanded during interglaciation.

Several individuals can even become heavily parasitized by leeches (81 suckers found on one turtle) during the dormant dry season and suffer accordingly.

Mating typically occurs during the rainy season of the Amazon rainforest (late March to early December).

Additionally, the USGS reports a few twist-necked specimens were found on a southern Florida golf course, but no impact on native species is expected to occur.