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Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus, 1758) - North American Snapping Turtle

Maps

Locality Map

Locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

County Map

County map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
County map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

Historical Locality Map

Historical locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Historical locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle). Black circles ( ) represent records after 1986, blue squares ( ) represent records between 1966 and 1986, orange triangles ( ) represent records prior to 1966. Note that more recent records might conceal underlying older records.
Map created 15 April 2026.

Historical County Map

Historical county map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Historical county map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle). Black circles ( ) represent records after 1986, blue squares ( ) represent records between 1966 and 1986, orange triangles ( ) represent records prior to 1966. Note that only the most recent county record for each county is shown.
Map created 15 April 2026.

Ecological Drainage Locality Map

Ecological Drainage Units map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Ecological Drainage Units locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

Natural Divisions Locality Map

Natural Divisions locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Natural Divisions and Sections locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

Major Watersheds Locality Map

Major watersheds map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Major Watersheds locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

Level I Ecoregion Locality Map

Level I Ecoregions map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Level I Ecoregion locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

Level II Ecoregion Locality Map

Level II Ecoregions map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Level II Ecoregion locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

Level III Ecoregion Locality Map

Level III Ecoregions map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Level III Ecoregion locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

Level IV Ecoregion Locality Map

Level IV Ecoregions map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle)
Level IV Ecoregion locality map for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle).
Map created 15 April 2026.

Native Status

Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle) is native to Missouri.

Collection Summary

Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle) has a total of 481 valid, non-duplicated collections representing 112 counties and 389 localities. There are a total of 118 collectors and 310 collection dates for the species. This results in a total of 327 expeditions for the species, a measure of unique date / collector(s) combinations. The earliest collection year for the species in Missouri is 1898 and its most recent collection year is 2025. The earliest and latest collection dates (independent of earliest and most recent collection years) are January 13 and November 27, respectively. If you have a new record to report, read the New Records section of the FAQ.

Collection Summary by County

Collection summary for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle) by county. Some values are unavailable since some records are represented solely by historical literature reports, which sometimes lack complete collecting data. Click on a county name to view more information about that county. Click on column headings to sort by that column.
County Localities Collections Collectors Dates Expeditions Earliest Year Latest Year
Adair 3 3 2 3 3 2005 2011
Andrew 1 1 1 1 1 1991 1991
Audrain 7 8 8 7 7 1995 2015
Barry 2 6 5 3 3 1930 2015
Barton 8 9 5 8 8 1989 2021
Bates 4 13 4 5 5 1973 2020
Benton 4 4 2 3 3 1982 2019
Bollinger 4 4 5 4 4 1996 2022
Boone 12 18 5 11 13 1957 2025
Buchanan 3 18 3 4 4 1933 1978
Butler 1 1 1 1 1 1898 1898
Caldwell 1 1 1 1 1 1982 1982
Callaway 8 8 3 7 7 1988 2022
Camden 2 2 3 2 2 1975 2001
Cape Girardeau 4 4 5 4 4 1970 2011
Carroll 3 3 1 2 2 1992 1992
Carter 2 2 4 2 2 2002 2007
Cass 2 2 2 2 2 1977 2008
Cedar 2 2 6 2 2 1990 2007
Chariton 6 6 2 4 4 1983 2023
Christian 5 5 6 5 5 2013 2021
Clark 1 1 1 1 1 1960 1960
Clay 3 3 2 3 3 1964 1992
Clinton 2 2 2 2 2 1961 1982
Cole 3 3 2 3 3 1995 2007
Cooper 4 4 2 3 3 1990 2017
Crawford 2 2 1 2 2 1990 1990
Dade 6 6 4 6 6 1982 2021
Dallas 2 2 4 2 2 2001 2019
Daviess 1 1 1 1 1 1940 1940
De Kalb 2 2 2 2 2 1992 2016
Dent 2 4 3 3 4 1909 1977
Douglas 3 3 5 3 3 2002 2008
Dunklin 3 4 2 4 4 1931 1957
Franklin 3 3 3 3 3 1906 2024
Gasconade 3 3 6 3 3 2006 2008
Gentry 1 1 1 1 1 2001 2001
Greene 29 29 10 29 29 2002 2025
Grundy 2 2 3 2 2 1982 2010
Harrison 2 2 4 2 2 1983 2014
Henry 1 1 1 1 1 1983 1983
Hickory 3 3 2 3 3 1992 2015
Holt 12 12 5 11 11 1967 2022
Howard 7 7 3 4 4 1999 2008
Howell 1 1 1 1 1 1973 1973
Jackson 8 10 3 7 7 1909 1990
Jasper 3 4 3 3 3 1931 2012
Jefferson 7 7 3 2 2 1971 1971
Johnson 3 4 3 3 3 1972 1989
Knox 4 4 2 4 4 1986 2011
Laclede 3 3 5 3 3 1992 2015
Lafayette 4 4 5 4 4 1981 2018
Lawrence 6 6 6 5 5 1964 2005
Lewis 1 1 2 1 1 2007 2007
Lincoln 2 3 2 3 3 1978 2019
Linn 2 2 2 2 2 1982 2015
Livingston 6 6 6 5 5 1933 2010
Macon 2 2 3 2 2 2005 2020
Madison 1 1 1 1 1 1996 1996
Maries 3 3 3 3 3 1906 2013
Marion 1 1 1 1 1 1946 1946
McDonald 1 1 1 1 1 1906 1906
Mercer 2 2 3 2 2 2010 2011
Miller 1 1 1 1 1
Mississippi 3 3 4 3 3 1987 2007
Moniteau 4 4 6 3 3 1940 1999
Monroe 3 3 6 3 3 2001 2011
Montgomery 3 3 4 3 3 1899 2021
Morgan 6 6 4 5 5 1948 2021
New Madrid 1 1 2 1 1 2006 2006
Newton 2 2 5 2 2 1935 2015
Nodaway 4 4 5 4 4 1980 2019
Oregon 6 6 10 6 6 1940 2020
Osage 1 1 1 1 1 1991 1991
Ozark 3 3 4 3 3 1983 2023
Pemiscot 2 3 2 2 3 1923 1923
Perry 2 2 3 2 2 1995 2011
Pettis 4 4 3 4 4 2005 2014
Phelps 5 5 5 3 4 1999 2020
Pike 4 6 1 4 4 1994 2005
Platte 3 3 4 3 3 1931 2024
Polk 10 10 4 10 10 1989 2021
Pulaski 1 1 4 1 1 2005 2005
Putnam 2 2 2 2 2 2005 2013
Ralls 1 1 2 1 1 1958 1958
Randolph 4 5 1 4 4 2001 2025
Ray 2 2 1 2 2 1985 1985
Reynolds 1 1 1 1 1 1940 1940
Ripley 2 2 4 2 2 1996 2007
Saint Charles 1 1 1 1 1 1985 1985
Saint Clair 3 3 4 3 3 1994 2010
Sainte Genevieve 2 2 2 2 2 2008 2008
Saint Francois 3 3 4 3 3 2005 2008
Saint Louis 1 3 1 3 3 1900 1908
Saline 3 3 3 3 3 1973 1991
Schuyler 5 5 2 3 3 1985 2013
Scotland 2 2 2 2 2 1950 2011
Scott 1 1 1 1 1 2001 2001
Shannon 4 4 5 4 4 1940 2022
Shelby 2 2 2 2 2 1998 2003
Stoddard 3 3 3 3 3 1967 2015
Stone 3 3 3 3 3 2004 2017
Sullivan 6 6 2 5 5 1986 2015
Taney 1 1 1 1 1 1950 1950
Texas 2 3 4 2 3 1941 1996
Vernon 4 4 3 3 3 1937 2006
Warren 1 5 1 2 2 1974 1974
Washington 5 39 4 5 6 1909 2008
Wayne 7 8 9 8 8 1939 2022
Webster 2 2 1 2 2 2001 2019
Worth 1 1 1 1 1 1992 1992
Wright 2 2 2 2 2 2014 2016

Potential County Records

Potential counties for Chelydra serpentina (North American Snapping Turtle). Counties are listed in descending order of their likelihood of having this species. Click on a county to view more information about that county. Click on column headings to sort by that column.
Likelihood County Rationale Ecoregion / Watershed
2 Atchison Same Level IV ecoregion, within 5 miles Steeply Rolling Loess Prairies
2 Iron Same Level IV ecoregion, within 5 miles Current River Hills
2 Iron Same Level IV ecoregion, within 5 miles St. Francois Knobs and Basins

Linnaean Classification

Kingdom:
Animalia - Animals
Phylum:
Chordata - Chordates
Subphylum:
Vertebrata - Vertebrates
Class:
Reptilia Laurenti, 1768 - Reptiles
Order:
Testudines Batsch, 1788 - Turtles
Family:
Chelydridae Gray, 1870 - Snapping Turtles
Genus:
Chelydra Schweigger, 1812 - American Snapping Turtles
Species:
Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus, 1758) - North American Snapping Turtle

Recent Taxonomic Synonyms

(none)