North GroundHuntNorth Ground Hunt — return to North Ground
Species authority page

Alligator snapping turtle

Macrochelys temminckii · Turtles · Reptiles

Alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii): Very large: adult carapace usually 38-66 cm (to 80 cm), 16-68 kg; huge head with strongly hooked jaws. Three pronounced keels on the carapace plus an extra row of scutes along each side of the shell. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Alligator snapping turtle — verified North Ground species photograph
North Ground · All rights reserved
Scientific name
Macrochelys temminckii
Family
Chelydridae
In North America
Native
Range
Mississippi and Mobile drainage basins and the Gulf Coast from eastern Texas to the Florida panhandle, north to southeastern Kansas, southeastern Iowa, Illinois and southern Indiana; very rare in Kentucky and possibly extirpated in Indiana and Iowa.
Biology

How to identify it

Very large: adult carapace usually 38-66 cm (to 80 cm), 16-68 kg; huge head with strongly hooked jaws. [1][2]

Three pronounced keels on the carapace plus an extra row of scutes along each side of the shell. [1][2]

Long tail without a saw-toothed mid-dorsal ridge; eyes set more to the sides. [1][2]

Pink worm-like lure on the tongue. [1][2]

Compared with the common snapping turtle: Alligator snapping turtle has a larger head, an extra row of scutes on each side of the shell and lacks the saw-toothed mid-dorsal tail ridge. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a alligator snapping turtle before you act. Compared with the common snapping turtle: Alligator snapping turtle has a larger head, an extra row of scutes on each side of the shell and lacks the saw-toothed mid-dorsal tail ridge.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Slow, deep water of rivers, sloughs, oxbows, canals and river-connected lakes, also swamps, bayous and ponds; under logjams, undercut banks and in deep holes. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Highly aquatic and secretive; leaves water only to nest and occasionally bask; mostly nocturnal or crepuscular. [1][2]

Lies motionless on the bottom, sometimes algae-covered, and lures fish with its tongue; stays submerged 40-50 minutes. [1][2]

Eats fish, mollusks, other turtles and other aquatic animals plus carrion. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Mississippi and Mobile drainage basins and the Gulf Coast from eastern Texas to the Florida panhandle, north to southeastern Kansas, southeastern Iowa, Illinois and southern Indiana; very rare in Kentucky and possibly extirpated in Indiana and Iowa.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology