# Turtles

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles/20235>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 22, 2000, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles/20235 "2000-05-22T21:34:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles/20235/1 "2000-05-22T21:34:30Z")

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Why do turtles have beaks instead of jaws like all their other reptilian brethren?  
What good does it do them?

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**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles/20235/2 "2000-05-22T22:19:41Z")

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well, they DO have jaws just a beak rather then teeth. Its fine for grasping and tearing and swallowing chunks. Why this adaptation rather then teeth, such as in a croc, who eats the same way. I dont know.

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles/20235/3 "2000-05-22T22:22:48Z")

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Turtles aren’t really predators (unless you count the odd earthworm or two), they’re scavengers, so most of what they eat is pretty soft (dead things that fall into the water or onto the forest floor, etc). They don’t need teeth.

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles/20235/4 "2000-05-23T04:54:47Z")

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Really? A 150 lb alligator snapping turtle is a top of the  
food chain (for a pond or river) predator. My father lost many baby ducks to one such beast and the turtle didn’t wait until the duckings died of “natural causes” before he “scavenged” them. He _was_ the “natural cause”. See link below

> **[Macrochelys temminckii (Alligator Snapping Turtle)](https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/macroclemys_temminckii/)**
>
> Read about Macrochelys temminckii (Alligator Snapping Turtle) on the Animal Diversity Web.

The alligator snapper “beak” is plenty sharp without teeth and a large snapper can easily “snap” a broomstick in two.

> [@](#):
>
> \*\*  
> Turtles aren’t really predators (unless you count the odd earthworm or two), they’re scavengers, so most of what they eat is pretty soft (dead things that fall into the water or onto the forest floor, etc). They don’t need teeth.  
> \*\*