American Alligator, known scientifically as “Alligator mississippiensis,” is called the common or alligator.
It is a large crocodile reptile native to the southeastern United States with a small population in Mexico.
American alligator is one of the two species existing in the genus Alligator in the Alligatoridae family. Notably, it is larger than the Chinese alligator, the only living alligator species.
Adult male American alligators measure 11.2- 15.1 ft and can weigh up to 453 kg. The females are shorter, measuring 8.5- 9.8 ft.
The American alligator dwells in freshwater wetlands such as swamps and cypress swamps from Tamaulipas in Mexico to southeastern and coastal North Carolina.
It differs from the sympatric American crocodile by its wider snout with overlapping jaws and darker coloring. It is less saltwater tolerant but cooler than the American crocodile, which is only found in tropical climates.
Scientific Classification
- Scientific Name: Alligator Mississippiensis
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Reptilia
- Order: Crocodilia
- Family: Alligatoridae
- Genus: Alligator
- Species: A. Mississippiensis
Characteristics
Local American alligators vary in length, width, and response to differences in factors like diet, climate, and growth rate. We will consider the various features or characteristics of the American alligator.
Size
The American alligator is a relatively large species of crocodile. On average, it is the second largest species in the Alligatoridae family, just behind the black caiman. Significant weight variations depend on age, health, length, time of year, and available food sources.
Similar to many other reptiles that spread in temperate zones, American alligators tend to reach smaller sizes at the northern end of their range, such as southern Arkansas, Alabama, and northern North Carolina.
Large adult American alligators are relatively tough and bulky compared to other crocodiles of similar length.
For example, captive males between 3-4 m (9 feet 10 inches to 13 feet 1 inches) in height have been found to weigh 440 to 770 pounds, although captive specimens are wild due to poor hunting behavior. Specimens can outweigh other stressors.
Relation to Age
In all crocodiles, and unlike many mammals, which decrease in size with age, healthy American alligators can continue to grow throughout their lifetime, and the oldest specimens are the largest.
Very old, large male American alligators reach an anticipated maximum size of up to 15 feet 1 inch in length and weigh up to 453 kg, while females reach a maximum size of 9 feet 10 inches. In rare cases, a tall, old man can grow longer.
Sexual Dimorphism
While this is noticeable in very mature specimens, the sexual dimorphism in the size of this species is relatively small in crocodiles.
In the saltwater crocodile, for example, the females are, on average, only slightly larger: 7 feet 10 inches in the American alligator and 8 feet 6 inches in the saltwater crocodile than the female.
American alligators, but those of the mature males are 14 feet 1 inches to 17 feet 1 inch as opposed to 7 feet 10 inches to 13 feet 1 inches that of a mature male.
American alligators are expected to be significantly larger than male American alligators and, on average, nearly twice as long and at least four times as heavy as the female saltwater crocodiles of the same species.
Given that female American alligators have a relatively higher survival rate at a young age and a When a large percentage of the given populations consist of immature or juvenile American alligators, relatively few are large mature males with the expected mature length of 11 feet 2 inches or more are typically easy to see.
Color
Adult American alligators can be brown, gray, olive, black, or dorsally. However, on average, they are some of the darkest modern crocodiles (although other members of the alligatorid family are also quite dark) and can be reliably differentiated from crocodiles by color because of their blacker back scales.
Their undersides are colored in cream. Some American alligators are absent or have an inhibited gene for melanin, making them albino. These American alligators are exceedingly rare and hard to find in the wild.
They could only survive in captivity due to their vulnerability to the sun and predators.
Distribution
American alligators are commonly found in the southeast of the United States, from South to Everglades National Park in Florida to the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia, up to North Carolina, and then from the west to the southern tip of Texas.
They are also found in Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Virginia, and Oklahoma. Various sightings of animals that had migrated north into West Tennessee in 2018 were confirmed.
Habitat
American Alligators commonly dwell in rivers, swamps, ponds, and lakes. For more than ten years, a lone American alligator was found living in a river north of Atlanta, Georgia.
Young and adult female alligators are also found in Carolina Bays and other seasonal wetlands.
Though American alligators prefer fresh water, they usually wander into brackish water. Also, their saltwater tolerance is very low compared to that of crocodiles because the salt glands of alligators do not function.
A survey in north-central Florida discovered that the males preferred open lake water during spring, whereas the females preferred swampy and open water areas.
In the summer, the females remain in the swamps to construct their nests and lay eggs while the males move to open water.
Behavior
Bite and mastication
American Alligator teeth are designed in such a way as to allow them to grip prey, though they can’t eat flesh like the teeth of some other predators like felids and canids and are dependent on their gizzard.
Its teeth are so hard that they can break a turtle’s shell or a moderate-sized mammal bone.
Basking
American alligators mainly bask on the shore of the sea or ocean and sometimes perch on tree limbs. When disturbed, they immediately retreat by jumping into the sea.
