Alligator Snapping Turtle / Macrochelys temminckii

The prehistoric reptile Alligator snapping turtle is the biggest fresh water turtle, in north America and among the most largest in the world. 
With its spiked shell, beak-like jaws and thick scaled tail, this species is often referred to as a dinosaur, 
They are found almost exclusively in the rivers, canals, and lakes of the south-eastern United States.

 

Alligator snappers can live to be 50 to 100 years old. Males average 26 inches, in the shell length and weigh about 175 pounds, the much smaller females top out at around 50 pounds. The snappers live their lives mostly in water unless females make their way to inland to nest. They can stay submerged for 40 to 50 minutes before surfacing for air.

As weird as it sounds the alligator snapper employs a unique natural lure in its hunting technique. Its tongue sports a bright-red, worm-shaped piece of flesh that, when displayed by a motionless turtle on a river bottom, draws curious fish or frogs close enough to be snatched.

Adult snappers have no natural predators other than humans, who capture them for their meat and shells, and to sell and trade. So funnily enough this species is under threat.

The animal is carnivorous.

This is the turtle compared to an average 6ft man.