Here's the sixth of my seven new turtles... the endangered Black Marsh Turtle. They are endemic to Southeast Asia. They are found in southern Vietnam, Cambodia, southern Myanmar (Tenasserim), central and peninsular Thailand, eastern and western Malaysia, Singapore, and the Indonesian islands of Java, Kalimantan, and Sumatra. They are also commonly kept as pets and as sacred animals in Southeast Asian Buddhist temples. They are treated as sacred by the public, being believed to contain the souls of people who died while trying to rescue other people from drowning. They are shy creatures. Mostly aquatic and nocturnal, they will sometimes come out to land at night to forage or mate, and occasionally during the day to bask. Majority of the time they prefer to stay underwater, partially buried in mud in shallow water or swimming near the bottom in deeper still waters. When threatened, black marsh turtles excrete a foul-smelling secretion from their cloaca to ward off would-be predators. Their powerful jaws are also capable of inflicting wounds if handled roughly.