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Mata Matas
Plate 1 of 1. (c) Joachim S. Müller, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA) · via iNaturalist

Mata Matas

Chelus

The mata mata, mata-mata, or matamata (Chelus fimbriata) is a freshwater turtle found in South America, primarily in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. It is the only extant species in the genus Chelus.

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2 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 2 known species

Amazonian Mata Mata

speciesChelus fimbriata

Orinoco Mata Mata

speciesChelus orinocensis

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Where it lives

Recorded sightings

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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

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In the old herbals & bestiaries

Mata Matas in History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds

History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds

Conrad Gessner · 1586 · p.575

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In the stacks

Searching the stacks…

Every page naming Chelus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 39602.