The alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) is one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world. It is often associated with, but not closely related to the common snapping turtle. They are the sole living member of the genus Macrochelys--while common snappers are in the genus Chelydra. The epithet temminckii is in honor of Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck.
Read more about Alligator Snapping Turtle: Distribution and Habitat, Description, Fossil History, Diet, Reproduction and Lifespan, In Captivity, Conservation Status
Famous quotes containing the words alligator, snapping and/or turtle:
“‘Tis no great valor to perish sword in hand, and bravado on lip; cased all in panoply complete. For even the alligator dies in his mail, and the swordfish never surrenders. To expire, mild-eyed, in one’s bed, transcends the death of Epaminondas.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“What a story. Everything but the bloodhounds snapping at her rear end.”
—Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909–1993)
“I think of the nestling fallen into the deep grass,
The turtle gasping in the dusty rubble of the highway,
The paralytic stunned in the tub, and the water rising,—
All things innocent, hapless, forsaken.”
—Theodore Roethke (1908–1963)