Meet the Alligator Snapping Turtle

Alligator Snapping Turtle, Photo Credit: Melissa MB Wilkins (CC BY-NC 2.0)

The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macroclemys temmincki) is the largest freshwater turtle. It has a pointed break and a vermiform (wormlike) tongue, which acts as a lure for fish as the turtle sits on the murky bottoms of ponds and bodies of water.

Check out a video of the Alligator Snapping Turtle feeding courtesy of ARKive.

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

Author: Heidi Kay Smith

Biology PhD student on the cusp of finishing and moving on to a postdoc in the behavioral ecology of amphibians. I blog to share my thoughts, ideas, and general feelings of awe of the natural world.

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