Chonkosaurus the gigantic snapping turtle crushes it on Twitter!

Chicago, Illinois - A clip of a gigantic turtle has the internet in stitches. Two kayakers spotted the bulky animal perched on a rusty chain in the Chicago River and immediately have it the best name ever: Chonkosaurus!

A big snapping turtle dubbed Chonkosaurus wows the internet.
A big snapping turtle dubbed Chonkosaurus wows the internet.  © collage: screenshots/Twitter/JoeySantore

Joey Santore was kayaking down the Chicago River with his friend, Al Scorch, at the beginning of May when they caught sight of a humongous snapping turtle sunning itself on a rusty chain.

Joey, who has a YouTube channel called Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t, shared a clip of their huge discovery to Twitter and users went wild.

In the vid, the pair gush over the turtle in thick Chicago accents: "Holy hell, you look good!" Joey says. "I'm real proud of you. You’ve been eating healthy?" His buddy Al describes the reptile as "thick but strong."

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"It was so fat, you know, the legs kind of spilled out," Joey told the New York Times, "It looked like a fat sandbag."

Twitter users love the gigantic snapping turtle

The clip went viral and boasts over 10,000 likes. Some Twitter users joked that the turtle has been eating pizza.

But as Chris Anchor, a biologic wildlife biologist with the Forest Preserves, told the NY Times, Chonkosaurus' size has little to do with body fat levels. This turtle might be a female and full of eggs. Anchor estimated that this tank of a specimen would weigh around 40 pounds, which wouldn't be record-breaking, since snapping turtles can get up to 60 pounds.

Chonkosaurus probably hasn't been eating pizza, but she may have eaten a duck or two. Snapping turtles are scavengers and omnivores and have been known to gobble up birds and small mammals.

Cover photo: collage: screenshots/Twitter/JoeySantore

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