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Macrochelys suwanniensis THOMAS, GRANATOSKY, BOURQUE, KRYSKO, MOLER, GAMBLE, SUAREZ, LEONE & ROMAN, 2014

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Higher TaxaChelydridae, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle 
SynonymMacrochelys suwanniensis THOMAS, GRANATOSKY, BOURQUE, KRYSKO, MOLER, GAMBLE, SUAREZ, LEONE & ROMAN 2014
Macrochelys temminckii — JENSEN et al. 2008: 459 (part.)
Macrochelys suwanniensis — TTWG 2017
Macrochelys suwanniensis — CROTHER et al. 2017
Macrochelys suwanniensis — TTWG 2021
Macrochelys suwanniensis — TTWG 2025 
DistributionUSA (Florida, Georgia: Suwannee River drainage)

Type locality: Santa Fe River and State Road 235, Alachua County, Florida (29.87872°N, 82.33619°W, datum WGS84, elevation 23 m).  
Reproduction 
TypesHolotype: UF 166146, adult male skeleton, found dead, apparently from gunshot wounds, in very low water in 2003 by Jason R. Bourque (see Figures 10, 11, 12). (Suwannee lineage; Figure 9). Paratypes. UF 22267, partial skeleton from Santa Fe River, near Town of Santa Fe, Alachua County, Florida, on 9 April 1962 by George R. Zug; UF 12694, partial skeleton from Fletcher Spring, Lafayette County, Florida (29.84672oN, 82.89256oW, elev. 9 m), on 19 November 1961 by B. Sites, D. Desautels, and D. Young. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Macrochelys suwanniensis is distinguished by the following: carapacial caudal notch very wide and lunate (Figure 10), usually comprising the pygal and peripheral set 11 (shared with Chelydra); pygal sutured medially (composed of two bones) often with no serrations; Peripheral 11 with 1–2 serrations; distal rib end of costal 1 enters posterior third of peripheral 3; pleural scute set 1 with broad overlap onto the nuchal; dermal scale on the frontals very wide; processus trochlearis oticum with developed proximal and distal protuberances; squamosal contacts opisthotic anteriorly when viewed in dorsal aspect; mandible broad with expanded triturating surfaces and developed labial rugosity just anterior to the coronoid; posterior projection of the squamosal acutely angled in lateral aspect, dorsally straight or downwardly directed, and posteriorly extensive past the plane of the quadrate (Figure 11) (THOMAS et al. 2014). 
CommentHabitat: freshwater (lakes, quiet rivers)

Distribution: see map in TTWG 2025, Thomas et al. 2025: 7 (Fig. 10). 
EtymologySpecific epithet refers to combination of the new Latin suwanni– (referring to the Suwannee River) and the Latin –ensis (belongs to the) to form the composite noun suwanniensis. 
References
  • Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here
  • ENGE, KEVIN M. & JACOB R. MURRAY. 2021. MACROCHELYS SUWANNIENSIS (Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle). REPRODUCTION. Herpetological Review 52 (2): 392–393. - get paper here
  • Enge, Kevin M.; Dirk J. Stevenson, Travis M. Thomas, Gerald R. Johnston, John B. Jensen, Benjamin S. Stegenga, Houston C. Chandler & Paul E. Moler 2021. Distribution and Relative Abundance of the Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys suwanniensis). Chelonian Conservation and Biology Dec 2021 Vol. 20, No. 2: 184-199 - get paper here
  • ENGE, KEVIN M.; TRAVIS M. THOMAS & GERALD R. JOHNSTON. 2022. MACROCHELYS SUWANNIENSIS (Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle). KYPHOSIS. Herpetological Review 53 (1): 122–123.
  • HUTCHESON, KEVIN G.; BENJAMIN S. STEGENGA, JEFFERY R. MOHR & DIRK J. STEVENSON. 2021. Geographic distribution: MACROCHELYS SUWANNIENSIS (Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle). USA: GEORGIA: Tift Co. Herpetological Review 52 (1): 80. - get paper here
  • Jackson, D R & Thomas, T M 2018. Macrochelys suwanniensis (Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle) Reproduction. Herpetological Review 49 (2): 321 - get paper here
  • Jensen, John B.; Carlos D. Camp, Whit Gibbons, & Matt J. Elliott 2008. Amphibians and reptiles of Georgia. University of Georgia Press, 575 pp.
  • Johnston, G.R., Mitchell, J.C., Suarez, E. & Thomas, T.M. 2017. Pseudemys suwanniensis (Suwannee Cooter) Long distance movement and homing. Herpetological Review 48 (3): 623-624. - get paper here
  • Johnston, Gerald R.; Travis M. Thomas, Eric Suarez, Anthony Lau, and Joseph C. Mitchell 2015. Population Structure and Body Size of the Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys suwanniensis) in Northern Florida. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 14 (1): 73-81. - get paper here
  • STEVENSON, DIRK J. et al. 2021. New County Records for Amphibians and Reptiles in Georgia, USA. Herpetological Review 52 (2): 350-359
  • Thomas, T.M., Enge, K.M., Stevenson, D.J., and Johnston, G.R. 2025. Macrochelys suwanniensis Thomas, Granatosky, Bourque, Krysko, Moler, Gamble, Suarez, Leone, Enge, and Roman 2014 – Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises. Chelonian Research Monographs 5(19):133.1–20 - get paper here
  • Thomas, Travis M., Eric Suarez and Kevin M. Enge. 2015. New county records of reptiles from the Suwannee River, Florida, USA. Herpetological Review 46 (4): 608 - get paper here
  • Thomas, Travis M., Michael C. Granatosky, Jason R. Bourque, Kenneth L. Krysko, Paul E. Moler, Tony Gamble, Eric Suarez, Erin Leone, Kevin M. Enge, and Joe Roman 2014. Taxonomic assessment of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Chelydridae: Macrochelys), with the description of two new species from the southeastern United States. Zootaxa 3786 (2): 141–165 - get paper here
  • Thomas, Travis M.; Kevin M. Enge, Eric Suarez & Gerald R. Johnston 2022. Population Status of the Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys suwanniensis) in the Suwannee River, Florida Chelonian Conservation and Biology Jun 2022 Vol. 21, No. 1: 2-10 - get paper here
  • Thomas, Travis M.; Kevin M. Enge, Eric Suarez, Paul Schueller, Brittany Bankovich & Erin H. Leone 2023. Home Range and Habitat Selection of the Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys suwanniensis) in the Suwannee River, Florida. Chelonian Conservation and Biology Dec 2023 Vol. 22, No. 2: 146-155 - get paper here
  • Thomas, Travis. 2014. Snappers in the dark: An iconic turtle in an iconic river. Turtle Survival 2014: 20-21 - get paper here
  • TTWG [TURTLE TAXONOMY WORKING GROUP: RHODIN, A.G.J., IVERSON, J.B., FRITZ, U., GALLEGO-GARCÍA, N., GEORGES, A., SHAFFER, H.B., AND VAN DuK, P.P.]. 2025. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (10th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 10:1-575 - get paper here
  • TTWG; Anders G.J. Rhodin, John B. iverson, Roger Bour, Uwe Fritz, Arthur GeoRges, H. BRadley Shaffer, and Peter Paul van Dijk 2017. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Pritchard, P.C.H., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 7:1–292. doi: 10.3854/crm.7.checklist.atlas.v8.2017 - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here
 
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