The total length of the carapace reaches 20 cm. The head is small with an elongated snout and a hooked beak. The carapace is flattened with a very small keel. The plastron is quite large, the males have concavity on it. Males have a larger and thicker tail than females. Swimming membranes on the legs are absent. However, there are large shields on the limbs.
The head is brown. A wide yellow or red stripe stretches from the orbit of the eye to the neck, but may be absent. Another strip goes under the eye to the flap, where it connects to the same strip from the upper jaw. Also, stripes go from the eye to the tip of the muzzle. Carapace brown-black with yellow pigmentation. The color of the carapace and the pattern can vary greatly. The membrane and plastron are yellow at the edges and brown-black in the center, thus forming something like a light ring around the dark inside. From here comes the Latin name of this turtle. Shin guards are yellow with dark stripes.
Prefers mountain forests. Leads a terrestrial lifestyle. Active in the morning. Also active immediately after heavy rains. In the heat it searches for ponds and plunges into water. It occurs at an altitude of up to 1,500 m above sea level. It feeds on fern, shrub leaves, young shoots, fruits.
The female lays eggs throughout the year. In clutch 1-2 elliptical eggs 70 to 37 mm. The size of the newborn turtles is 63 mm.
Brown American geoemide is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. [3]
