Cool Animal of the Day: The Mata Mata Turtle

Holy smokes, look at that Mata Mata turtle. The Mata Mata turtle’s shell looks like a piece of bark and its head looks like fallen leaves so it can hide from predators and bite off the occasional tourist’s toe. That’s diabolical, man. It lives in slow moving, blackwater streams and stagnant pools, marshes and swamps, which sounds like a major bummer. It calls northern Bolivia, eastern Peru, Ecuador, eastern Columbia, Venezuaela, and northern and central Brazil home. Male Mata Matas flirt with females by extending their limbs, lunging their heads toward the females with mouths agape, and moving the lateral flaps on their heads. Hey, what lady could resist that? Anywho, Mata Mata Turtle.