Genus Melanochelys Gray, 1869

Type species

Melanochelys trijuga (Schweigger, 1812) .

Differential osteological diagnosis using shell characters

A member of Melanochelys can be diagnosed by having a small to medium sized, oval carapace (up to 30 cm in length), presence of three longitudinal keels, an octagonal second neural, neural III–VI with posterior short sides, a large first vertebral with lateral constriction, hexagonal second to fourth vertebral scutes, gular scutes that are longer than wide and an entoplastron that is intersected by the humeropectoral sulcus.