the.com/alligator snapping turtle
A rock that lies, waits, and has a tongue shaped like bait.
means The largest freshwater turtle in North America, a heavily armored ambush predator that lurks motionless on riverbeds and lures fish into its mouth by wiggling a worm-shaped bit of its tongue.
from The 'alligator' in its name comes from the three ridged, saw-toothed keels running down its shell, giving it a knobbed, prehistoric look said to resemble an alligator's hide, and from its powerful hooked jaws, which can close with crushing force much like the reptile's. 'Turtle' itself traces back through French tortue, probably from Latin tartaruchus — relating to Tartarus, the underworld — though that link is debated; it may instead be a plain alteration of 'tortoise.' The genus name Macarochelys (or Macroclemys, in older usage) is Greek for 'large turtle,' a tidy, literal label for an animal that otherwise looks like it crawled out of myth.
- lure tongue
- Wiggles a pink worm-shaped tongue to lure fish
- bite force
- Snaps hard enough to sever fingers, not bone-crushing myth
- lifespan
- Can live over 100 years in the wild
- size record
- Largest ever caught weighed over 400 pounds