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So, I know the guys who found these turtles, they find the reporting pretty amusing. Alligator snapping turtles were split into various species separated by genetics and river drainage back in the early 2000s. The holotype M. suwanniensis was officially described in 2003, so not exactly new. Also, alligator snapping turtles were extensively fished in the early 1900s for food, especially after sea turtle populations crashed and an alternative turtle meat had to be found. This reduced the age, and therefore size, of the snappers in areas where they were fished. This also caused populations to crash, which is why alligator snappers are protected throughout the Southeast.
What's special about this location is that they weren't expecting to find such large and old individuals in this reach of stream, suggesting it wasn't hard hit back in the turtle fishing days and might represent the healthiest population of these turtles in the state. Pretty neat.
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