AnimalvsAnimal
Alligator snapping turtle (1)🦎

Photo: Stolz Gary M, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domain

SpeciesChelydridae
Reptiles

🦎Alligator snapping turtle

Macrochelys temminckii Troost, 1835

A tartaruga-aligátor (nome científico: Macrochelys temminckii) é uma espécie de tartaruga de água doce (também chamadas de cágados) da família Chelydridae. É uma das duas espécies do género Macrochelys, a outra é a Macrochelys suwanniensis, e pertence à mesma família da Tartaruga-mordedora. A tartaruga-aligátor habita os rios, lagos e pântanos do sul dos Estados Unidos da América. O nome "tartaruga-aligátor" fica-se a dever de sua potente mordida, já que o aligátor-do-mississipi possui uma das mordidas mais fortes do planeta e habita o mesmo ambiente.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
2
Photos
1
Measurements
10
vs you
≈ your weight
Conservation status
ENEndangered

IUCN Red List assessment, 2025.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
59 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
70 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Alligator snapping turtle

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
59 kgrecord 113 kg · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Maximum lifespan
70 yearsrecord 80 years · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
120 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 30
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Diet
Carnivorous
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Diurnal
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Foraging mode
ACT
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Venomous
No
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Snout–vent length
0.81 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
59 Laverage
Details ↓

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 Alligator snapping turtle yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classTestudines
  4. ›familyChelydridae
  5. ›genusMacrochelys
  6. ›speciesMacrochelys temminckii
Full lineage
  1. orderTurtles & tortoises · Testudines
  2. superfamilyChelydroidea
  3. familyChelydridae
  4. genusMacrochelys
All 13 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. orderTurtles & tortoises · Testudines
  10. suborderCryptodira
  11. superfamilyChelydroidea
  12. familyChelydridae
  13. genusMacrochelys
More

More about the Alligator snapping turtle

In other languages
żółw sępi (pl), Tortue alligator (fr), Macrochelys temminckii (es), keselyűteknős (hu), Macrochelys temminckii (it), Geierschildkröte (de) … and 24 more languages

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