Central American Snapping Turtle

About the Central American Snapping Turtle

The Central American snapping turtle (Chelydra rossignonii), also known commonly as the Mexican snapping turtle and the Yucatán snapping turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Chelydridae. The species is endemic to Central America and Mexico.

C. rossignonii was formerly considered a subspecies of C. serpentina, the common snapping turtle; it earned full species classification when scientists noted several genetic and morphological differences between the two species' skulls.

The specific name, rossignonii, is in honor of French-born coffee grower Jules Rossignon. There are no recognized subspecies of C. rossignonii. C. rossignonii has a big head, lengthy tail, pointed snout, and a coarse carapace with three easily seen ridges. Its carapace comes in different colors, such as brown to olive or olive to black, while its small plastron can be either cream to yellow or tan to gray. This turtle's shell sometimes also has algae growing on it, which helps it to camouflage. The skin is either gray or black all over on adults, while juveniles have white speckles on their skin; the skin is also covered in long tubercles near... Wikipedia →