Mata Mata Turtle basic information

The Mata Mata Turtle can weigh up to 27 pounds, making him one of the largest freshwater turtles. Their shells can measure 18 inches in length at maturity. Females are generally larger than males. Very young Mata Matashave a salmon coloring to their plastron and the carapace and neck are dark brown. However, when they get older, the plastron turns to yellows and browns. The carapace of the mature Mata Mata is contorted and coarse to the touch. One can gauge the age of these tortoises by examining the growth lines present on each scute. The scutes themselves are conical, and the growth rings are easy to see. The Mata Mata has a long, flat neck and head. The head is shaped like a broad triangle. The head and neck are covered with ridges, warts, tufts, and other protuberances. Tufts are flaps of skin. The exact purpose of the tufts is a subject of debate. The tufts stay in the water and drift as the turtle moves; the movement of the tufts gives the appearance of weeds or algae. These tufts possess many nerve cells, which convey sensory information to the turtle, the debate seems to be how the turtles use and process this information. Their mouths are extremely wide, allowing them to swallow food whole. Its snout is long and slender. Atop the snout are two very small eyes.

Complete List
African helmeted terrapin	Australian snake necked turtle	Big Headed Turtle	Black Marsh Terrapin	Blanding's Turtle
Bog Turtle	Box Turtle - Chinese	Box Turtle - Eastern	Box Turtle - Gulf Coast	Box Turtle - Indonesian
Box Turtle - Keeled	Box Turtle - Ornate	Box Turtle - Three Toe	Cogwheel Turtle	Diamondback Terrapin
East African Side Necked Turtle	European Pond Turtle	Florida Cooter	Fly River Turtle	Honduran Wood Turtle
Leaf Turtle	Map Turtle	Mata Mata Turtle	Musk Turtle	Painted River Terrapin
Painted Turtle - Eastern	Painted Turtle - Western	Red Eared Slider	Reeve's Terrapin	Snapping Turtle
Softshell Turtle - Black Rayed	Softshell Turtle - Eastern Spiny	Softshell Turtle - Florida	Spotted Turtle	Wood Turtle - Central American
Wood Turtle - North American	Yellow Spotted Amazon River Turtle	African Spurred Tortoise	Aldabra Giant Tortoise	Bow-Sprit Tortoise
Burmese Brown Tortoise	Chaco Tortoise	Desert Tortoise	Egyptian Tortoise	Elongated Tortoise
Forsten's Tortoise	Galapagos Tortoise	Gopher Tortoise	Greek Spur Thighed Tortoise	Hermann's Tortoise
Hingeback Tortoise - Bell's	Hingeback Tortoise - Home's	Impressed Tortoise	Leopard Tortoise	Leopard Tortoise - South African
Marginated Tortoise	Pancake Tortoise	Radiated Tortoise	Red Foot Tortoise	Russian Tortoise
Star Tortoise	Yellow Foot Tortoise

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mata_Mata_Turtle".