One of the 41 turtles and tortoises on WAnimals
Reptiles · Testudines · Chelydridae
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Macrochelys temminckii
It faces a high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term. See full glossary
The alligator snapping turtle is the heaviest freshwater turtle in the Americas and one of the largest in the world: males exceed a hundred kilos. Its shell is crossed by three toothed ridges and its head is enormous. It fishes with a lure: it lies motionless on the bottom with its mouth open, wiggling a pink appendage on its tongue that mimics a worm.
Weight
20 kg – 100 kg
Size
40 cm – 80 cm
Lifespan
80 years
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Moderate
Fun facts
- It fishes with a rod of its own: a pink, forked appendage on the tongue that it wriggles like a worm, drawing fish straight into its open mouth, which it closes in a fraction of a second.
- It can stay submerged for fifty minutes without surfacing to breathe, and spends most of its life motionless on the bottom, covered in algae and practically indistinguishable from a rock.
- It can live more than seventy years and does not breed until past its first decade, which means overharvesting for food takes generations to reverse.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton with a shell (reptile)
- Habitat & environment
- Slow rivers, bayous, lakes and swamps of the Mississippi basin and the south-eastern United States
- Sexual maturity
- 11 years
- Gestation / incubation
- 3.9 months
- Litter / clutch size
- 30
Sources consulted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_snapping_turtle
Where to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 11 de 18 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Alligator Snapping Turtle — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Least ConcernCommon Snapping Turtle
Chelydra serpentina
Spiny Softshell Turtle
Apalone spinifera
Least ConcernAmerican Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
American Bullfrog
Lithobates catesbeianus
Greater Siren
Siren lacertina
Two-toed Amphiuma
Amphiuma means
How to help
The alligator snapping turtle is classified as vulnerable. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 10 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about alligator snapping turtle.
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