Alligator Snapping Turtle
ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE, Macroclemys temminckii (Formerly Macrochelyst.)
Order: Testudines
Family: Chelydridae (Monotypic Macroclemys species)
Description: Carapace to 28 inches. Record weight 219 pounds. Largest freshwater turtle in the world. Massive head with powerful, hooked beak. Red, worm-like projection on tongue that acts as bait to attract fish. Capable of serious bites; often aggressive. Carapace brown or gray with three rows of knobby, keeled scutes. Row of scutes between costals and marginals of carapace. Plastron narrow, rigid, cross-shaped. Tail long, covered with large, rough scales.
Distribution: South-central USA. Aquatic.
Breeding: Mates underwater February to April.
Nesting: Lays one clutch in April to June in a flask-shaped, earthen cavity a short distance from the water's edge. 10 to 52 spherical eggs are laid, 1-1/2 inches large. Incubation 82 to 114 days. Young are 1-3/4 inches at hatching.
Diet: Lie in wait for prey on the bottom with mouth open, using the protrusion on tongue to attract fishes. Eats fishes and anything it can swallow, including other turtles.
References:
The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terrarium. Fritz Jurgen Obst, Dr. Klaus Richter, and Dr. Udo Jacob. Translated by U.E. Friese. Neptune City, New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications, Inc., 1988.
A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Second Edition. Roger Conant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1958.
The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. John L. Behler and F. Wayne King. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1979.
Living Reptiles of the World. Karl P. Schmidt and Robert F. Inger. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1957.
