''Chelydra'' is one of the two

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

of the snapping turtle family,

Chelydridae The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, '' Chelydra'' and '' Macrochelys''. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are '' Acherontem ...

, the other being ''

Macrochelys ''Macrochelys'' is a genus of very large freshwater turtles in the family Chelydridae from Southeastern United States. Only a single extant species was recognized until a 2014 study divided it into two, or possibly three species. Extant species ...

'', the much larger

alligator snapping turtle The alligator snapping turtle (''Macrochelys temminckii'') is a large species of turtle in the family Chelydridae. The species is native to freshwater habitats in the United States. ''M. temminckii'' is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles i ...

. The snapping turtles are native to the Americas, with ''Chelydra'' having three

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

, one in North America and two in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, one of which is also found in northwestern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

Species

The genus ''Chelydra'' has the following species: * '' Chelydra acutirostris'' ( W. Peters, 1862) – South American snapping turtle * '' Chelydra rossignonii'' ( Bocourt, 1868) – Central American snapping turtle * ''

Chelydra serpentina The common snapping turtle (''Chelydra serpentina'') is a species of large freshwater turtle in the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoological ...

) –

common snapping turtle The common snapping turtle (''Chelydra serpentina'') is a species of large freshwater turtle in the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia ...

(North America) * '' Chelydra floridana''† * '' Chelydra laticarinata''† * '' Chelydra sculpta''† The three extant ''Chelydra'' species were once all considered to be several subspecies of ''Chelydra serpentina'', along with a fourth subspecies in Florida, ''Chelydra serpentina osceola''''. C. s. osceola'' is now considered to be synonymous with ''C. serpentina.''

References

{{Chelydridae Turtle genera Taxa named by August Friedrich Schweigger