The alligator snapping turtle, Macroclemys temminckii, is the largest species of freshwater turtle in the world. It also may be the most shy. You might think such a large reptile would be easy to catch and study. The common snapping turtle rarely gets to be more than 30 pounds. Also, the head of a full-grown common snapping turtle is proportionally much smaller than the head of an alligator snapping turtle with the same shell size.
Alligator snapping turtles live in southeastern and extreme southern Missouri.
Most of their time is spent in the water. Females leave the water only to lay their eggs during June or early July every other year. The record alligator snapper is a 219-pound male captured in southern Georgia many years ago. Adult males are over twice the weight of females. A few Missouri specimens weighing more than 120 pounds have been captured.