In 2014, what once was one became three.



The venerable alligator snapping turtle, Macrochelys temminckii once ranged in 3 apparently non-contiguous basically riverine populations westward from the northern peninsula of Florida and southern Georgia, to southeastern Kansas and eastern Texas.

The range extended northward in the Mississippi Valley to central Iowa and Illinois. The southeasternmost population (now the Suwannee alligator snapper, Macrochelys suwanniensis, ranges throughout the Suwannee River drainage of Florida.

The central population (now the Apalachicola alligator snapper, Macrochelys apalachicolae) occurs in the drainage of the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee Rivers of Florida, Georgia and eastern Alabama.

The western population (still referred to as simply the Alligator snapper, Macrochelys temminckii, ranges westward and northward from Florida's western panhandle throughout the remainder of the large range.

The separation and erection of these turtles was based on genetic and morphological differences.

For more information read: "Taxonomic assessment of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Chelydridae: Macrochelys)," with the description of two new species from the southeastern United States in Zootaxa 3786 (2): 141–165.