Order Testudines
Suborder Cryptodira
Superfamily Testudinoidea
Family Chelydridae (Snapping
Turtles)
The family Chelydridae contains only three species in three
monotypic genera.
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Appearance:
Chelydrids are large freshwater turtles with massive
heads. Their head is indeed so big that it cannot be
retracted fully within the shell. The same is true for their
limbs. The carapaces of chelydrids are flattened, triridged,
and nearly rectangular in outline, and the plastrons are
reduced. The three species have unusually long tails, almost
equaling the length of their carapaces.
Size:
Macrochelys (formerly
Macroclemys) is one of the heaviest freshwater
turtles worldwide (max. carapax length 80 cm, max. weight 80
kg).
Distribution: North
America (Chelydrinae), China and Indochina
(Platysterninae).
Relationships:
Platysternon has been considered as a member
of the Testudinidae or as a separate family,
Platysternidae.
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Chelydra serpentina. © Peter
Uetz.
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Habitat:
Chelydra serpentina inhabits both
freshwater and brackish water. Macrochelys lives in
rivers, lakes and swamps
Food: Mostly carnivorous
(preys include fish, molluscs, worms and other aquatic
invertebrates); Chelydra
serpentina is an omnivorous species.
Behaviour: Mostly nocturnal
foragers. Macrochelys lures fish into its open mouth
with a fleshy projection of the tongue that mimics a wormlike
prey.
List of genera:
Subfamily Chelydrinae
Subfamily Platysterninae
Click
on genus to get a list of species. Use
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Reference:
Wermuth,H. & Mertens,R. (1977)
Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien:
Testudines, Crocodylia, Rhynchocephalia
Das Tierreich, Lfg. 100, XXVII + 174 pp.
Walter de Gruyter, Berlin-New York
Zug,G.R.; Vitt, L.J. & Caldwell, J.P. (2001)
Herpetology,
2nd ed.
Academic Press San Diego, London, [...]XIV + 630 pp.
Online Information:
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This page is maintained by Peter Uetz (see e-mail address on Home
page)
Created: 25 Jan 1996 / Last changed or updated: 8 March
2004