Compared to A. cartilaginea, A. ornata is of an "arrow headed form" and has a "lighter base color and a more diffuse yellow spotting, which is 'usually restricted to the cheeks, there are no ocelli but black dots may be present on the carapace, the nuchal tubercles are always weakly developed and the animals always show three (or rarely two) converging black lines on the head'". Along with Amyda ornata subspecies (unnamed) from Bangladesh and Amyda ornata phayrei, Amyda ornata ornata's "morphology matches the turtles studied by Kuchling et al. 2004". In addition, Amyda ornata subspecies (unnamed) has "a rather uniform pale color and very large tubercles in the nuchal and back region of the carapace".[3][4]
Status
The IUCN Red List presently groups A. ornata with A. cartilaginea, and has found them to be Vulnerable due to overexploitation for consumption. A provisional assessment of A. ornata as a distinct species has also found it to qualify for a Vulnerable status.[2]
