Editing Common snapping turtle (section)

{{Short description|Species of turtles}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Snapping Turtle Heinz.png
| image_caption = A common snapping turtle crossing the trail at [[John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum|John Heinz NWR]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn | author =van Dijk, P.P. | title = ''Chelydra serpentina '' | volume= 2012| page = e.T163424A97408395| doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T163424A18547887.en |year = 2012| errata = 2016 |access-date = 4 December 2017 }}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = <ref name="CITES">{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2023-03-01|website=cites.org}}</ref>
| genus = Chelydra
| species = serpentina
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms = *''Testudo serpentina'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758</small>
*''Chelydra serpentina'' <small>[[August Friedrich Schweigger|Schweigger]], 1812</small>
| range_map = Common snapping turtle range map.jpg
| range_map_caption = Native range map of ''C. serpentina''
}}

The '''common snapping turtle''' ('''''Chelydra serpentina''''') is a [[species]] of large freshwater [[turtle]] in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Chelydridae]]. Its natural range extends from southeastern [[Canada]], southwest to the edge of the [[Rocky Mountains]], as far east as [[Nova Scotia]] and [[Florida]]. The present-day ''Chelydra serpentina'' population in the Middle [[Rio Grande]] suggests that the common snapping turtle has been present in this drainage since at least the seventeenth century and is likely native.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=E. L. |last2=Steele |first2=L. W. |last3=Conrad |first3=C. |year=2022 |title=Archaeological Data Suggest Seventeenth-Century Presence of Common Snapping Turtle (''Chelydra serpentina'') in the Middle Rio Grande |journal=Western North American Naturalist |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=611–615 |doi=10.3398/064.082.0317}}</ref> The three species of ''[[Chelydra]]'' and the larger [[alligator snapping turtle]]s (genus ''[[Macrochelys]]'') are the only extant [[Chelydridae|chelydrids]], a family now restricted to the [[Americas]]. The common snapping turtle, as its name implies, is the most widespread.<ref>{{cite book|title=Biology of the Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)|year=2008|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|pages=5–13|author=Ernst, C.H.|editor1=A.C. Styermark |editor2=M.S. Finkler |editor3=R.J. Brooks |chapter=Systematics, Taxonomy, and Geographic Distribution of the Snapping Turtles, Family Chelydridae |isbn=9780801887246}}</ref>

The common snapping turtle is noted for its combative disposition when out of the water with its powerful beak-like jaws, and highly mobile head and neck (hence the [[Specific name (zoology)|specific epithet]] ''serpentina'', meaning "[[snake]]-like"). In water, it is likely to flee and hide underwater in sediment. The common snapping turtle has a life-history strategy characterized by high and variable mortality of embryos and hatchlings, delayed sexual maturity, extended adult longevity, and [[semelparity and iteroparity|iteroparity]] (repeated reproductive events) with low reproductive success per reproductive event.<ref name="adw"/>

Females, and presumably also males, in more northern populations mature later (at 15–20 years) and at a larger size than in more southern populations (about 12 years). Lifespan in the wild is poorly known, but long-term mark-recapture data from [[Algonquin Provincial Park|Algonquin Park]] in Ontario, Canada, suggest a maximum age over 100 years.<ref name="adw">{{cite web|url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2009/ec/CW69-14-565-2009E.pdf|title=COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Snapping Turtle ''Chelydra serpentina''}}</ref>