Common snapping turtle

Chelydra serpentina · The common snapping turtle is a large freshwater turtle that lives in southeastern Canada and across the eastern United States, as far as the Rocky Mountains and Florida.

Also called North American Snapping Turtle, Common snapper.

Common snapping turtle
Photo: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain
Common snapping turtle
Photo: Chuck Homler, Focus On Wildlife, CC BY-SA 4.0
Common snapping turtle
Photo: D. Gordon E. Robertson, CC BY-SA 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderTestudines
FamilyChelydridae
GenusChelydra
SpeciesChelydra serpentina

Where it lives

Ponds, rivers and marshes from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

Fun facts

  • Their nostrils sit at the very tip of the snout, so they work like snorkels while the turtle lies hidden in the mud.
  • In the north, snapping turtles can go more than six months without breathing air because ice covers their hibernating site.
  • A snapper can take in oxygen by pushing its head out of the mud and absorbing it through the membranes of its mouth and throat.
  • Warm or cool nest temperatures decide the babies' sex: females develop at low and high temperatures, while males develop in between.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).