🦎Common snapping turtle
The common snapping turtle is a species of large, freshwater turtles in the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia, and Florida. The present-day C. serpentina population in the Middle Rio Grande suggests that the common snapping turtle has been present in this drainage since at least the 17th century and is likely native. The three species of Chelydra and the larger alligator snapping turtles are the only extant chelydrids, a family now restricted to the Americas. The common snapping turtle, as its name implies, is the most widespread.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2025.
- Body mass
- 10 kg
- Body length
- not recorded
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 47 years
Everything we know about the Common snapping turtle
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass10 kgrecord 35 kg · ReptTraitsAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Maximum lifespan47 yearsrecord 50 years · ReptTraitsAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
DietOmnivorousReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleNocturnalReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
Foraging modeACTReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
VenomousNoReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
Snout–vent length0.5 mmaximum recordedReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l10 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Common snapping turtle yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classTestudines
- ›familyChelydridae
- ›genusChelydra
- ›speciesChelydra serpentina
- orderTurtles & tortoises · Testudines
- superfamilyChelydroidea
- familyChelydridae
- genusChelydra
All 13 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- orderSauria
- orderTurtles & tortoises · Testudines
- suborderCryptodira
- superfamilyChelydroidea
- familyChelydridae
- genusChelydra
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