Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstyck, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff, Lauren Vogelbaum.
Speaker 1: Here question, but what does the biggest freshwater turtle in
Speaker 1: North America have to do with a household cleaning implement?
Speaker 1: The answer involves a well worn bit of folk wisdom.
Speaker 1: A legend has it that the alligator snapping turtle can
Speaker 1: split a wooden broomstick in half with a single bite.
Speaker 1: These are big reptiles. They commonly reach about one hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy five pounds that's eighty kilos, and they have
Speaker 1: an impressive byte strength, hence the name. The zoologist Peter
Speaker 1: Charles Howard Pritchard actually tested this claim for his nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty nine book The Alligator Snapping Turtle Biology and Conservation,
Speaker 1: when he pestered an alligator snapper weighing near that known
Speaker 1: limit with a brand new broomstick. It grabbed hold of
Speaker 1: the wood. The bite went deep, but failed to break
Speaker 1: the broomstick. However, as Pritchard tried to rest the stick free,
Speaker 1: the turtle finished the job, splitting the handle between its jaws.
Speaker 1: It turns out that they have a bite force of
Speaker 1: about one thousand pounds or four hundred and fifty kilos,
Speaker 1: which means that they can snap through bone, so probably
Speaker 1: avoid pestering these creatures. Alligator snappers deserve some respect as
Speaker 1: living creatures, not only because mishandling one could cost you
Speaker 1: a finger. Still, the turtles aren't normally aggressive around people.
Speaker 1: If you live in the United States north of the
Speaker 1: Rio Grande and east of the Rocky Mountains, you've probably
Speaker 1: seen the alligator snapper's smaller cousin, the common snapping turtle.
Speaker 1: By most standards, the common snapper isn't that small. Its
Speaker 1: shell can measure over eighteen inches long that's forty five
Speaker 1: centimeters and anywhere from nine to thirty five pounds that's
Speaker 1: four to sixteen kilos. This reptile far out weighs most
Speaker 1: of the sliders and painted turtles that share its native waters,
Speaker 1: but alligator snappers range for about that size too much bigger.
Speaker 1: The species is sexually dimorphic, meaning that there are distinct
Speaker 1: differences in size or appearance between male and female specimens.
Speaker 1: Adult female alligator snappers are about the same size as
Speaker 1: the largest common snapping turtles, but the adult males can
Speaker 1: be twice that length and about five times heavier or
Speaker 1: even more. Those titans qualify as some of the biggest
Speaker 1: freshwater turtles alive today, and here on North American soil,
Speaker 1: their size is totally unrivaled. Despite their names, though, the
Speaker 1: common snapping turtle and alligator snappers aren't closely related. The
Speaker 1: common snapper has an upper shell that's plated and smoothish
Speaker 1: and a long, flexible neck. The alligator snappers shell has
Speaker 1: three prominent ridges with spikes that look a little bit
Speaker 1: like giant rose thorns and a much shorter neck. Both
Speaker 1: have long tails with rows of sort of comb like
Speaker 1: ridges called tubercles. The alligator snapper has similar prominent ridges
Speaker 1: around its face, neck, and feet. The alligator snapper will
Speaker 1: further be gray brown too dark brown in color, has
Speaker 1: a large head with a hooked beak, and unlike other snappers,
Speaker 1: their eyes are located on the sides of their head.
Speaker 1: They really look like miniature kaiju. If you've never seen one,
Speaker 1: look up pictures the next time you get a chance.
Speaker 1: Alligator snappers live in the southern parts of the United
Speaker 1: States in bodies of water that drain into the Gulf
Speaker 1: of Mexico. Based on pretty recent research from the twenty teens,
Speaker 1: there are at least two existing species, the alligator snappers
Speaker 1: of the Swanee River in Georgia to Florida and the
Speaker 1: ones that live further west and north. There's a proposed
Speaker 1: third species for the Apalachicola River around the Florida Panhandle,
Speaker 1: but this is the sort of thing that biologists seem
Speaker 1: to enjoy arguing about. Unlike most semi aquatic turtles, alligator
Speaker 1: snappers almost never leave the water except two lay eggs,
Speaker 1: which the female turtles do on dry land in clutches
Speaker 1: of ten to sixty. Alligator snappers do most of their
Speaker 1: basking beneath the water's surface, ischeeing the logs and dry
Speaker 1: rock piles where other reptiles soak up sunlight. They have
Speaker 1: an affinity for deep rivers, but they're equally at home
Speaker 1: in swamps, ponds, lakes, and canals. They're solitary creatures and
Speaker 1: only come together to mate the hatchlings are on their own.
Speaker 1: The turtles are most active at night, which is when
Speaker 1: they forage for food. Menu options include water, plants, fruits, seeds,
Speaker 1: various dead things, and all sorts of live prey items
Speaker 1: like frogs, snakes, snails, salamanders, leeches, crustaceans, other turtles and
Speaker 1: even ducks, muskrats, beavers, and young crocodilians. Alligator snappers can
Speaker 1: taste compounds in the water that lead them to their prey,
Speaker 1: but fish are their dietary cornerstone, and instead of chasing
Speaker 1: them down, the turtles use la under. The alligator snapper's
Speaker 1: tongue is a blood filled appendage that's pink in color
Speaker 1: and shaped like a worm. By wriggling this and keeping
Speaker 1: the rest of its body absolutely still, the turtle draws
Speaker 1: fish into its open maw. They're the only species in
Speaker 1: the world that does this. An alligator snapping turtle can
Speaker 1: hold its breath for fifty minutes straight, giving it plenty
Speaker 1: of time to wait for some curious critter to swim
Speaker 1: within striking distance. Adult alligator snappers stay underwater so long
Speaker 1: that they sometimes boast a carpet of algae along their
Speaker 1: upper bodies. When algae grows on their shells, heads, and limbs,
Speaker 1: it helps the turtles blend into muddy river bottoms, rendering
Speaker 1: them all but invisible to fish. Hatchlings and juveniles are
Speaker 1: beset by many predators, from raccoons to river otters, but
Speaker 1: humans are the only species that adults have to fear
Speaker 1: due to a fad for turtle soup. In the nineteen
Speaker 1: sixties and seventies, populations of alligator snaps declined and even
Speaker 1: disappeared from rivers throughout their historic range. Commercial fishers were
Speaker 1: harvesting tons every day in some places. A commercial harvest
Speaker 1: has since been banned, though Mississippi and Louisiana allow restricted
Speaker 1: recreational harvest. Nonetheless, these animals are considered threatened or even
Speaker 1: endangered in some areas, and are still at risk from
Speaker 1: human activities in and around their habitats, from fishing and
Speaker 1: other recreation to housing and industrial development. The US Fish
Speaker 1: and Wildlife Service has been working on surveying their populations
Speaker 1: to learn more about how we can better protect them.
Speaker 1: If it stays out of danger, an alligator snapper can
Speaker 1: live a few decades in the wild. One captive specimen
Speaker 1: was at least seventy years, four months and twenty six
Speaker 1: days of age when it finally passed. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article Alligator snapping Turtle's lore prey with
Speaker 1: a wriggling wormlike tongue appendage on how Stuff Were dot Com,
Speaker 1: written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is produced
Speaker 1: by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts Myheart Radio, visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.