📸 PhotoPhoto: Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Amazon Mata Mata
Chelus fimbriata (Amazon Mata Mata · Amazon Mata Mata)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A 45 cm carapace is about 1.5 times the long side of an A4 sheet (29.7 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Its hunting method of flinging its mouth open to suck in prey can be compared to sipping a drink through a straw (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Amazon Mata Mata is a relatively large freshwater turtle living in shallow, murky waters of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
With a carapace length of nearly 45 cm, it is a relatively large turtle. It spends almost all its time underwater and rarely climbs onto land.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly on fish and aquatic invertebrates, suddenly snapping open its mouth to suck in prey along with water. Once a year between October and December, it lays 12–28 eggs in leaf litter.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2026) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/171924/1337442
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 87WF9
- • iucnredlist.org — 1337442
- • wikidata.org — Q106449044
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Chelus fimbriatus - Flickr - Dick Culbert.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Chelus fimbriatus
- • reptile-database.reptarium.cz — species
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Andy Wilson · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Phrynops hilarii)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.