Something Amiss

Another naturalist called Johann Gottlob Schneider from Germany called the turtle Testudo fimbriata in 1783. However, the mata mata turtle has had more than a dozen names over the years. Eventually, it was named Chelus fimbriata in 1992 – a classification that would stick for almost 30 years. In fact, it wasn’t until 2020 that scientists would admit that something was amiss. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons / R. Mintern