The plastron is small resulting in a large amount of flesh exposed on the underside. The skin is brown. The head is massive in relation to the shell. This is especially obvious in large specimens. There are many fleshy projections about the neck.
All ages have strong jaws with a very hooked beak, strong claws, and a long smooth tail.
There is a pink fleshy projection on the tongue. This turtle can be confused with no other except the common snapping turtle. With careful observation, however, they can easily be distinguished from one another. Hatchling gator snappers are 35 to 40 mm long and look like the adults. Subspecies There are no subspecies of the alligator snapping turtle, Macroclemys temminckii, recognized.