Alligator Snapping Turtle

Macrochelys temminckii

Sits motionless on river bottoms wiggling a pink tongue lure. North America's largest freshwater turtle, up to 100 kg.

Population: No precise rangewide census exists; regional/state surveys show localized declines and slow recovery from historical commercial overharvest (e.g., Flint River populations had not recovered 22 years after harvest ceased)
Habitat: Deep, slow-moving freshwater rivers, canals, lakes, oxbows, and swamps with submerged cover such as fallen trees and beaver dens; adults are almost entirely aquatic, juveniles use smaller streams
Fun fact: It lures prey by lying motionless on the riverbed with its mouth open, wiggling a pink, worm-shaped appendage on its tongue to draw fish close enough to snap up with tremendous speed and force.
Range: Southeastern United States, centered on the Mississippi River drainage — from the Florida Panhandle west to East Texas, north into Missouri, southeastern Kansas, Illinois, southern Indiana, and Kentucky, and east through Alabama and Georgia's Gulf-drainage rivers (the separate Suwannee River population is now generally treated as a distinct species, M. suwanniensis)
Diet: Carnivorous ambush predator and opportunistic scavenger; mainly fish and fish carcasses, plus mollusks, crayfish, frogs, snakes, other turtles, water birds, carrion, and occasionally small mammals such as raccoons and nutria
Size: 0.8 m
Lifespan: 45 years

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