The matamata turtle is a South American species with a flat, crushy looking head and a long nose. It can go up to 18 inches, and eats little fish and plants at the bottom of the rivers. They sort of remind me of myself, because their main goal in life is to find food and eat it. These are absolutley lovely little guys, because their names mean "I kill, I kill." With their evil face and spiky shell, I can't say I'm too suprised. The spikes are for self defense, because they have bad eyesight and poorly developed limbs. They use the long nose as sort of a snorkel. They eat sort of like baleen whales, they open their mouths and a huge inrush of water comes in, carrying little fish with it. They are mostly nocturnal and very sensitive to light. They also have a shy nature and don't generally bite humans exept in self defense.
