Mata Mata, a South American watershed hunter

Mata mata (scientific name: Chelus fimbriata) is a tortoise in the Chelidae family and is the only tortoise in the genus Chelus. It “Mata tortoise Mata is a tortoise that lives in the water all the time, has a strange shape and is a great camouflage because of its shape and color that harmonizes with nature.

The Mata Mata tortoise has a large, flattened triangular head, rough skin, and surrounding fleshy appendages that sense and detect water ripples. The length of the shell when in water is more like a rock, bark or leaf, with a long tube-like nose and a long neck like a snake, all of which are used for camouflage in an underwater environment to wait for prey such as mata turtles. Mata stays still and opens her mouth to wait for the fish to pass through her mouth, eating the fish by sucking in, as well as eating other animals such as crustaceans, amphibians, poultry and pets. With small milk

The Mata Mata tortoise can grow up to 50 cm in height and weigh more than 20 kg. Northern Bolivia, eastern Peru, Ecuador, eastern Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, as well as northern and central Brazil, live in temperate waters. It is highly acidic, which is caused by the deposition of plant debris until the water has a color similar to brown or tea and is high in tannins.

This species of tortoise has a sluggish behavior and usually lives alone, except during the breeding season. The breeding season is at the end of the year from October to December and takes about 208 days to hatch.

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