OK here is another weekly "manatee" post as promised but this one isn't a manatee.... 
Again details on my site but I'll paste it below also to make is easy for all.... 
Hey that statement “The Modern Age Dinosaur†- I didn’t make it up..., it is from a turtle publication linked below:
http://www.chelydra.org/snapping_turtle_identification.html
Check it out! This is a rare turtle (Florida snapping turtle - Chelydra s. osceola) , especially rare to photograph underwater. In fact I don’t know of any decent underwater photographs of this particular species in its native habitat. That is because of a number of reasons - including their sometimes muddy/murky underwater habitat is difficult to find/photo them, they are increasingly uncommon and even though their “snapping†reputation is rather fierce they are really quite shy creatures, especially underwater. I can vouch for the fact too they swim really well underwater. Notice all that reptile type webbing and check out those claws? This turtle swam really fast and buried itself in the muck under submerged tree roots before I knew it. Also the snapping turtles are terrestrial sometimes and lay their eggs on land. It is at that time when confronted that they may display a fierce “mouth open†gape. That would make a neat underwater photo but frankly they don’t open their mouths underwater. The snapping turtles are such good swimmers that they would rather swim away from you into a crevice under tree roots that confront danger underwater. Although note the photograph of the common snapping turtle in the article linked above - they have sort of “rubber necks†that can stretch up to 1/2 their carapace (shell) length! I wouldn’t want to corner or provoke one underwater as you could easily loose a finger in an instant. I was content to follow him/her and just get the best possible images I could considering the dark, mucky area.
Are the relatives of this turtle more ancient than say crocodiles or even sharks? Very possibly so, as the snapping turtles are considered the most ancient of all the turtle species and are the ones most similar to fossilized turtle remains from before the time of the dinosaurs.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a shark species that is more ancient - but interesting thing is the snapping turtle really has the “dinosaur†look as the article above states - a “living fossilâ€.
I must admit that the alligator snapping turtle even looks more bizarre. Those don’t come quite this far south in Florida but the alligator snapping turtle does get much bigger than the Florida snapping turtle, many over two feet long and up to 200 lbs and more! But this Florida snapping turtle here wasn’t little by any means. In fact he is a bit bigger than the “17 in†total length stated in articles. Look for yourself at the various photographs - some of those leaves are 2-1/2 in or so and do the math. This turtle is big about 18†to 20†plus, maybe the maximum size they get and probably very long lived (maybe 50 years +?). I’ve seen this same turtle around the springs over the years (I can tell because of his/her size as I’ve seen two other “little†ones about a third his/her size in different areas of Crystal River but only one this large).
My goal has been to get a decent photograph of him/her and every year a get one a little better. Now these are pretty good still, they show a lot of detail............, but I still have a “goal†to get a photograph of this big snapper swimming in blue water with rainbow light rays and with a manatee backdrop - throw in a cormorant or an anhinga or two catching a fish! Well I can dream, yes? :-)
Best, Carol - More photos below, hope you find him/her interesting - I do!!
