Species: Chelydra serpentina

Snapping Turtle
Species

    Shell hard, often with attached mud or algae; rear edge of upper shell saw-toothed; tail as long as or longer than carapace, with crest of large bony scales; head large, with hooked jaws; lower shell relatively small, composed of nine shields; limbs strong, with webbed toes and strong claws; maximum upper shell length nearly 50 cm, but usually less than 36 cm. Adult: upper shell relatively smooth, longitudinal ridges not very prominent. Mature male: anal opening farther from base of tail than in female, usually posterior to rear edge of carapace (under rear edge in female); grows to larger size than female. Juvenile: carapace with three longitudinal ridges. Hatchling: carapace rough, with conspicuous ridges, producing a cryptic dead-leaf-like appearance. Eggs: shell moderately pliable, somewhat brittle, with visible pores; 23-35 mm x 22-31 mm (average 28 mm x 27 mm). Source: Hammerson (1999).

    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Chelonia

    Order

    Cryptodeira

    Family

    Chelydridae

    Genus

    Chelydra

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Common Snapping Turtle - Eastern Snapping Turtle - tortue serpentine
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Turtles
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Chelonia - Cryptodeira - Chelydridae - Chelydra - Peninsular Florida population sometimes has been regarded as a separate species, C. OSCEOLA. MtDNA exhibits almost no variation within or between populations in the southeastern U.S. (Walker et al. 1998), though there are moderate mtDNA differences between individuals in North America and those in Central and South America (Philips et al. 1996). Phillips et al. (1996) proposed that three evolutionary species be recognized in the Chelydra serpentina group, but Sites and Crandall (1997) disputed their methods and conclusions and emphasized the need for further study using improved methods.

    Shell hard, often with attached mud or algae; rear edge of upper shell saw-toothed; tail as long as or longer than carapace, with crest of large bony scales; head large, with hooked jaws; lower shell relatively small, composed of nine shields; limbs strong, with webbed toes and strong claws; maximum upper shell length nearly 50 cm, but usually less than 36 cm. Adult: upper shell relatively smooth, longitudinal ridges not very prominent. Mature male: anal opening farther from base of tail than in female, usually posterior to rear edge of carapace (under rear edge in female); grows to larger size than female. Juvenile: carapace with three longitudinal ridges. Hatchling: carapace rough, with conspicuous ridges, producing a cryptic dead-leaf-like appearance. Eggs: shell moderately pliable, somewhat brittle, with visible pores; 23-35 mm x 22-31 mm (average 28 mm x 27 mm). Source: Hammerson (1999).

    Short General Description
    A large mostly aquatic turtle, weighing as much as 50 lbs.
    Migration
    false - true - false - Reproductive females may migrate up to several kilometers between permanent water of their usual residence and a nesting area. In Ontario, the maximum distance traveled from the nesting site was 370-2,020 meters (mean 1053 meters); movement were greatest from spring to mid-July (Pettit et al. 1995). Some adults may travel up to a few kilometers between summer range and winter hibernation sites; others hibernate within summer range (Brown and Brooks 1994).
    Non-migrant
    false
    Locally Migrant
    true
    Food Comments
    Forages in water; eats many kinds of vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants.
    Reproduction Comments
    Mating may occur any time during the warmer months. Snapping turtles in North America typically nest from late May to early July (mainly in June), but mainly from mid-June to early July in the far north. In dry regions, ground-softening rains often stimulate nesting. Clutch size averages 20-35, sometimes exceeds 100; 1 clutch/year in Michigan. Hatching and emergence from the nest typically occur about 2-3.5 months after laying, from late August to early October (most often in September), but sometimes the young do not emerge from the nest before winter.<br><br>Snapping turtles commonly experience low reproductive success due to extensive predation on their eggs, but females produce large clutches and may live and reproduce for several decades, so eventually they produce offspring that join the breeding population. In Michigan, nest survivorship over 17 years ranged from 0 to 64% and averaged 23% (Congdon et al. 1994). In Ontario, growth rate and reproductive output increased with habitat productivity (Brown et al. 1994). In Michigan, minimum reproductive frequency was less than annual (0.85) (Congdon et al. 1994).<br><br>Females are sexually mature in about 8 years in Iowa, 10-20 years in Ontario (later in north than in south), 11-16 years in southeastern Michigan (Congdon et al. 1994); also in Ontario, mean age of first nesting estimated at 17-19 years (Galbraith et al. 1989). In Ontario, the mean age of nesting females was estimated at 33-40 years (Brooks et al. 1988, Galbraith and Brooks 1989).
    Ecology Comments
    In Ontario, males occupied relatively stable, overlapping home ranges; summer range 0.4-2.3 ha (Galbraith et al. 1987). Also in Ontario, July-August foraging home ranges in three sites during one year were 2.3-18.1 ha (means fell between 5 and 9 ha); home range length was about 550-1990 m; home range size did not vary with habitat productivity (Brown et al. 1994). In another Ontario study, home range size over a year was 1.0-28.4 ha, averaging about 9 ha for females and about 2-3 ha for males (Pettit et al. 1995). <br><br>Frequently incurs high rates of nest predation (30-100% in Michigan) by various Carnivora (Congdon et al. 1987). See Iverson (1991) for a compilation of survivorship data (egg survival low, not more than 0.22; adult survival generally high, over 0.90). A population in Ontario, Canada, was characterized as stable, with adult female annual survivorship greater than 0.95; later, a great increase in adult mortality occurred, apparently due primarily to otter predation on hibernating turtles; there was no compensatory density-dependent response in reproduction and recruitment (Brooks et al. 1991). In Michigan, actual annual survivorship of juveniles was over 0.65 by age 2 and averaged 0.77 between ages 2 and 12 years; annual survivorship of adult females ranged from 0.88 to 0.97; population stability was most sensitive to changes in adult or juvenile survival and less sensitive to changes in age at sexual maturity, nest survival, or fecundity (Congdon et al. 1994).
    Length
    47
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2002-04-19
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-10-21
    Other Status

    SC - Special Concern - 2008-11-28

    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=SE&CA.MB=S3&CA.NB=S4&CA.NS=S5&CA.ON=S3&CA.QC=S4&CA.SK=S3&US.AL=S5&US.AZ=SE&US.AR=S5&US.CO=S4&US.CT=S5&US.DE=S5&US.DC=S5&US.FL=S5&US.GA=S5&US.IL=S5&US.IN=SNR&US.IA=S5&US.KS=S5&US.KY=S5&US.LA=S5&US.ME=S5&US.MD=S5&US.MA=S5&US.MI=S5&US.MN=S3&US.MS=S5&US.MO=SNR&US.MT=S3&US.NE=S5&US.NV=SE&US.NH=S5&US.NJ=SNR&US.NM=S5&US.NY=S5&US.NC=S5&US.ND=SNR&US.OH=SNR&US.OK=S5&US.PA=S5&US.RI=S5&US.SC=SNR&US.SD=S5&US.TN=S5&US.TX=S5&US.UT=SE&US.VT=S5&US.VA=S5&US.WA=SE&US.WV=S5&US.WI=S4&US.WY=S4" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Range extends from southern Alberta eastward across southern Canada to Nova Scotia, and south to the Gulf Coast and through Mexico and Central America to northern South America (though apparently absent from most or all of northern and central Mexico); west in the United States to the Rocky Mountains. Snapping turtles have been introduced in several places in the West.
    Global Range Code
    H
    Global Range Description
    >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103761