Editing Alligator snapping turtle (section)

==Diet==
The alligator snapping turtle is an [[opportunistic feeder]] that is almost entirely [[carnivore|carnivorous]]. It relies on both catching live food and scavenging dead organisms. In general, it will eat almost anything it can catch. Fishermen have glorified the species' ability to catch fish and to deplete fish populations, whereas in fact it largely targets any abundant and easily caught prey, and rarely has any extensive deleterious effect on fish populations.<ref name="Ernst"/> Its natural diet consists primarily of [[fish]] and fish carcasses, [[mollusk]]s, [[carrion]], and [[amphibian]]s, but it is also known to eat [[snake]]s, [[snail]]s, [[worm]]s and other invertebrates, [[crawfish|crayfish]], [[insect]]s, [[water bird]]s, [[aquatic plant]]s, other [[turtle]]s and sometimes even small [[alligator]]s.<ref name="Pritchard"/><ref name="Ernst"/><ref name=Nichols/><ref name=Elsey/> In one study conducted in [[Louisiana]], 79.8% of the stomach contents of adult alligator snapping turtles was found to be composed of other turtles, although the resistance of shell and reptile-bone fragments to digestion may have led these fragments to remain longer in the digestive tract than other items.<ref name=Elsey/> This species may also, on occasion, prey on aquatic rodents, including [[nutria]]s and [[muskrat]]s or even snatch small to mid-sized other [[mammal]]s, including [[squirrel]]s, [[mice]], [[opossum]]s, [[raccoon]]s, and [[armadillo]]s when they attempt to swim or come near the water's edge.<ref name="Pritchard"/>

In the wild, alligator snapping turtles are also recorded eating a wide range of plant matter such as seeds, tubers, stalks, [[Diospyros virginiana|American persimmons]], [[Vitis|wild grape]], [[Carya aquatica|water hickory]], [[pecan]]s, and [[Robinia|locust]]. Between March and October, stomach samples of 65 turtles showed that 56% of their diet by volume was composed of acorns of [[Quercus nigra|water]], [[Quercus lyrata|overcup]], and [[Quercus phellos|willow oaks]]. The most frequently eaten food item was fish; despite this, fish only made up 7% of their diet by volume. Mammalian and bird prey, although less frequently eaten, made up 10% and 7% of the diet by volume respectively.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Sloan |first1=K.N. |last2=Buhlmann |first2=Kurt |last3=Lovich |first3=Jeff |date=January 1996 |title=Stomach contents of commercially harvested alligator snapping turtles, Macroclemys temminckii |journal=Chelonian Conservation and Biology |volume=2 |pages=96–99}}</ref> As ingested willow oak acorns were found to germinate faster after defecation, it is suggested that alligator snapping turtles may be important seed dispersers of oak trees.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Elbers |first=Jean |date=2010 |title=Elbers, Jean Pierre, "Effect of Ingestion by Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys Temminckii) on Seeds of Riparian Vegetation |journal=MSU Graduate Theses |volume=1274}}</ref> While downstream dispersal of acorns is passive, ingestion by alligator snapping turtles could facilitate dispersal of acorns upstream as well as laterally across streams.<ref name=":1" />

The alligator snapping turtle seemingly most often hunts at night. It may also hunt diurnally, however. By day, it may try to attract fish and other prey by sitting quietly at the bottom of murky water and letting its jaws hang open to reveal its tongue appendage, which looks like a small, pink worm in the back of its gray mouth, and lure the prey into striking distance.<ref name="Ernst" /> The vermiform tongue imitates the movements of a worm, luring prey to the turtle's mouth. The mouth is then closed with tremendous speed and force, completing the ambush. Although the turtle does not actively hunt its prey, it can detect [[Chemoreceptor|chemosensory]] cues from prey, like the mud turtle, in order to choose the location in which it is most likely to catch food.<ref name="Punzo2020" /> Small fish, such as [[minnow]]s, are often caught in this way by younger alligator snapping turtles, whereas adults must eat a greater quantity per day and must forage more actively.<ref name="Pritchard" /> Though not a regular food source for them, adult alligator snappers have even been known to kill and eat small [[American alligator]]s.<ref name="BronxZoo" />