GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A 100-pound Suwannee alligator snapping turtle was among three of the massive reptiles recently captured in Florida, researchers said.
According to WPEC-TV, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shared the news in a Facebook post Friday.
"This week, our biologists were out checking traps set for the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle, Macrochelys suwanniensis," the post began. "This is a new species that FWC helped describe in 2014."
The post included photos of three of the turtles, including a 100-pound male, 64-pound male and 46-pound female found in traps set in the New River, north of Gainesville.
"The New River is a blackwater stream with low biological productivity, so finding a large turtle in such a small stream is unusual," the post continued.
The commission added that it has been working with biologists in Florida and neighboring Georgia “to document the distribution and relative abundance of this state threatened species.”