This Odd-Looking Turtle Always Has a Smile on Its Face and Feeds in an Incredible Way

The extremely well-camouflaged mata mata turtle dresses like a piece of bark with spiky ridged scales, and sucks in prey by creating a vacuum. And it appears to be always smiling.

With its disproportionately large head and elongated thick neck, the mata mata looks a bit odd, but always smiles nevertheless. Image credit: Per Se
One of the largest freshwater turtles (their shell can grow to nearly 45 centimeters or 1.5 feet, and weigh about 17 kilograms or 38 pounds), the mata mata is a rather strange-looking animal, at least by human standards. It has a disproportionately large head and elongated thick neck, riddled with warts and ridges known as ‘tubercles‘. On either side of its long snout sits a shiny disc resembling a holed penny. And, its wide mouth makes the animal look as if it always had smile on its face.

But while the mata mata might be ugly to some, their looks are actually an adaptation to their surroundings, bringing a number of benefits.