Instead of an exterior shell ... the turtle spends 95 percent of its life hidden in sand or mud with only its eyes and nose showing. It possesses long claws and can extend its neck with lightning ...

Like the Japanese sumo wrestler, the Florida Softshell turtle, Trionix ferox, is definitely a heavyweight. The creature, like this 40-pound specimen, is the heaviest and bulkiest of all North ...

When I crouched along the grassy banks of a small ciénaga, or desert wetland, near the park’s lodge, the turtle raised its long, wrinkly neck and stared at me. I couldn’t help but smile.

It had many of the qualities of the turtles we know and love today: a boxy body, plodding legs, a long neck topped by a small, round head. It was only missing one thing: a shell. Thanks to the ...

And despite its ability to stretch its 6-inch neck completely out of and back ... a Trionyx spiniferus, or spiny soft shell turtle of the size Joe Guidry caught, is almost certainly a female.

Distinguishing features: Long tail and neck, huge head ... feature of the softshell is its namesake soft shell, which is leathery and pliable. These turtles are usually greenish with yellow ...

Chinese state media has said the last known female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle ... the other turtle lost his life. The female turtle’s fate comes after a long struggle with infertility.

‘That is why we believe all 10 turtles were dumped here.’ It is illegal in New Jersey to own turtles as pets without a permit. Soft-shell turtles ... with a long, slender nose.