The alligator snapping turtle has a dark gray, black or brown shell and a light-colored belly. Its shell and head are sometimes overgrown with algae. Its head is huge in relation to its body. Instead of teeth, the alligator snapping turtle has a strongly hooked, raptor-like beak. There is a prominent ridge on the turtle's shell. Its legs are short and muscular and it has long, webbed toes with strong claws; 5 clawss on the front and 4 claws on the rear. On the turtle's thick tail, the underpart has large, rounded scales. In addition to breathing through its lungs, the alligator snapping turtle can breathe through the skin of its throat and thin-walled sacs in the cloaca (genital/intestinal/urinary opening).

Listed as “vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources).

• IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group

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