Breeding maturity is attained around 8 kg (18 lb), when the straight carapace length is around 33 cm (13 in), but then the species continues to grow throughout life. The species generally does not grow quite that large. Another large turtle reportedly weighed 135 kg (298 lb). Another weighing 107 kg (236 lb) was housed at the Brookfield Zoo in suburban Chicago. One weighed at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago was a 16-year resident giant alligator snapper weighing 113 kg (249 lb), sent to the Tennessee Aquarium as part of a breeding loan in 1999, where it subsequently died. Though not verified, a 183 kg (403 lb) alligator snapping turtle was found in Kansas in 1937, but the largest verifiable one is debatable. Skeleton of an alligator snapping turtle on display at the Museum of Osteology. There are non-native established invasive populations of the alligator snapping turtle in South Africa. Typically, only nesting females venture onto open land. It is found from the Florida Panhandle west to East Texas, north to southeastern Kansas, Missouri, southeastern Iowa, western Illinois, southern Indiana, western Kentucky, Louisiana, and western Tennessee.

The alligator snapping turtle is found primarily in freshwaters of the southeastern United States. It is also slightly less commonly known as 'the loggerhead snapper' (not to be confused with the loggerhead sea turtle or loggerhead musk turtle). The alligator snapping turtle is given its common name because of its immensely powerful jaws and distinct ridges on its shell that are similar in appearance to the rough, ridged skin of an alligator. apalachicolae), has been proposed, but is generally not recognized. suwanniensis) of the Suwannee River A third species, the Apalachicola snapping turtle ( M. Īlthough it was once believed that only one extant species exists in the genus Macrochelys, recent studies have shown that there are two species, the other being the Suwannee snapping turtle ( M. The specific epithet temminckii is in honor of Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. It is often associated with, but not closely related to, the common snapping turtle, which is in the genus Chelydra. It is the largest freshwater species of turtle in North America.

temminckii is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles in the world. The species is native to freshwater habitats in the United States. The alligator snapping turtle ( Macrochelys temminckii) is a large species of turtle in the family Chelydridae.

Boardmaker free printables alligator