TURTLES

The largest living turtle sometimes reaches a weight of about 540 kg (about 1200 lb). The Alligator Snapping Turtle, pictured here on the right, is the largest of the freshwater turtles. It has a ridged, camouflaged shell and powerful jaws. When a fish, mistaking the turtle’s small, wriggling tongue for a worm, swims within reach, the turtle captures it by quickly snapping its jaws shut.