Black Marsh Turtle is a hard shelled turtle in the family Geoemydidae. It lives in stagnant or sluggish water bodies including marshes, swamps, ponds, streams and lakes. It is known to be highly carnivorous; it has a broad head and strong jaws for crunching mollusc and carrion bones (Hopson, n.d.). However, it is considered an omnivore too as its diet also includes rotting plants, fruits and carcasses (Moll & Moll, 2004). It is native to Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

This turtle can be easily recognized by its upwardly curved jaw line which gives it the common name of "Smiling turtle". It can grow up to 20 cm (straight carapace length) (Das, 2010). The ovoid carapace is dark grey or nearly black, while the plastron is pale grey with large dark areas in each scute. The juvenile has light coloured spots on the head. These light coloured spots remain in the adult female while they will fade with growth in the male (Das, 2010).

Due to both exploitation and habitat conversion and loss, the Black Marsh Turtle is categorized as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (IUCN, 2018). This vulnerable species is listed as protected wildlife under the first schedule of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, to control its export trade.