Mata Mata

Chelus fimbriata

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we're going to talking about mata matas. If you like learning facts about animals then subscribe to this channel so you can stay up to date on all the new content.

These turtles are weird. Not that weird is bad, mind you, but just look at them! Some might even call them the pugs of the turtle world. In the past past 200 years matas matas have gone through 14 different name changes and their current scientific name, Chelus fimbriata, was only decided upon in 1992 (and I thought I had major identity issues...). They live in rivers, streams, swamps and marshes throughout northern South America with large populations in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. It's possible that due to the pet trade they're living in some southern states of North America, though there isn't information I can currently find on any established colonies. What happens is matas matas get released by owners who just aren't experienced enough to handle them. This is obviously bad because they don't naturally occur in these areas and thus become an invasive species.

One likely reason this occurs is because these turtles can get pretty big. On average, a full-grown mata mata will grow to 18 inches in length and weight more than 30 pounds. That's a lot of turtle to take care of! Of course, although they are rather large turtles, they actually don't require much space. Since they spend most of their time in shallow, calm waterways, they've evolved to be sedentary creatures, meaning they don't move around much and quite a few of the mata mata's features can be attributed to this slow-paced lifestyle.

If you haven't already noticed, mata mata's don't look like your average turtle. They have long, flat necks and heads that are usually grey in color and completely covered in bumps and skin flaps. What's more, their shell is usually brown or rust colored and thus looks like a piece of bark drifting along the riverbed. While most of us tend to shy away from unsightly blemishes, to a mata mata they're a blessing. Because mata matas are sedentary in nature they are ambush predators. What this means is that they will sit and wait for their food to come to them. The freaky fringes along their head and neck not only help them to blend in with their surroundings, but they actually help mata matas in detecting nearby prey. When the unsuspecting prey draws near it gets sucked in vacuum cleaner style with the turtle slowly expelling the excess water through their closed mouth disallowing their meal to escape. They eat mostly fish but will also dine on crustaceans, insects, amphibians and even small mammals and birds!

Blending in not only helps them in catching prey but also helps them in being antisocial. They're relatively solitary animals and only meet up to mate usually between the months of October and December. The female will lay her eggs on land in a clutch of about 20 eggs. Something to note here is that the eggs are brittle in texture much like the eggs of a bird. Most reptile eggs are more soft and leathery. The eggs incubate for around 200 days and the parents take no part in raising the mata mata babies. They can live anywhere from 40 to more than 75 years!

In the wild they have to watch out for snakes while domestic mata matas are sometimes injured or even killed by dogs and cats. Thankfully Chester just runs away from our turtle, he's not a mata mata, though.

The name "matamata" might sound familiar to any Lord of the Rings fans in the crowd since this was the name of the town in New Zealand where the sets for Hobbiton were shot. You can actually visit there and get a tour of Bagend and other iconic hobbit holes from the Shire. There's really no relation to the turtle besides the name, though. Mata matas do, however, have a pokemon design based off of them! Then again, what doesn't...

For more information on mata matas check out the links below. Let us know in the comments which animal you would like to see next and as always thank you for watching and be sure to give a thumbs up for more Animal Fact Files.