This species was recently moved from Elseya to Myuchelys by Georges and Thomson (2010);[6] however, this was later deemed in error by the authors and was argued against by Rhodin et al., (2010)[7] with the support of the authors. Hence it has been returned to Elseya. The species Elseya schultzei has also long been seen as synonymous with this species; however, recent studies have shown this to be incorrect. Therefore, that species was recently removed from synonymy, further revision of the New Guinea Elseya the species has been made type species for a new subgenus (Hanwarachelys) which also contains Elseya schultzei and Elseya rhodini.[4]
^ abTurtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk, P.P., Iverson, J.B., Rhodin, A.G.J., Shaffer, H.B., and Bour, R.]. 2014. Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 5(7):000.329–479, doi:10.3854/ crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014.
^Meyer, Adolf Bernhard. 1874. Eine Mittheilung über die von mir auf Neu-Guinea und den Inseln Jobi, Mysore und Mafoor im Jahre 1873 gesammelten Amphibien. Monatsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 39:128–140.
^ abcThomson, S., Amepou, Y., Anamiato, J. & Georges, A. 2015. A new species and subgenus of Elseya (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from New Guinea. Zootaxa 4006(1):59-82. Preview (PDF)