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Alligator mississippiensis

(Alligator, Gator, American Alligator, Florida Alligator, Mississippi Alligator, Louisiana Alligator.)

Overview

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Federally protected. American alligator populations were in decline until the 1980 because of poaching for their hides and habitat destruction. Populations have now recovered.

Alligator spotting techniques: Watch for eyes, head or snout protruding from water surface. Also, use a flashlight at night to shine on the water in order to locate an alligator by its glowing red-orange eyes.

Threatened

Threat status

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Alligator, Alligator, Gator, American Alligator, Florida Alligator, Mississippi Alligator, Louisiana Alligator., American Alligator, Florida Alligator, Gator, Louisiana Alligator, Mississippi Alligator

Common Names in German:

Mississippi-Alligator

Common Names in Russian:

Аллигатор щучий

Description

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Physical Description

Species Alligator mississippiensis

The coloration of adults is blackish brown. Juveniles have yellow crossbars on the back and some tail markings.

Alligators have valves in their ears and nostrils to keep water out. Because their mouths lack lips and thus do not shut completely, two flaps cover the gullet and windpipe during dives. Its rear legs are longer than its front legs and each foot has four toes ending in claws .

In the United States, alligators grow larger than crocodiles.

Size/Age/Growth

6-19 feet long, nose to tail. Adults usually range from 6-12 feet in length , but the maximum is more than 19 feet.

Weight normally to 500 pounds . A full grown male may weigh up to 1200 pounds, while the female is slightly smaller.

Habitat

Usually seen in large streams , canals, ponds , lakes , marshes, swamps , and tidal estuaries.

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 5,478 meters (0 to 17,972 feet).[1]

Biology

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Diet

Alligators have a wide, varied diet but tend to mainly feed on turtles, snakes , small mammals, crayfish, birds, mammals, and frogs .

The alligators' food changes with age. The young feed on insects and on freshwater shrimp. As they grow older they eat frogs, snakes and fish. Mature adults live mainly on fish but will catch muskrats and small mammals that go down to the water's edge to drink. They also take a certain amount of waterfowl. Very large alligators may occasionally pull large mammals such as deer or cows down into the water and drown them.

Reproduction

Alligators breed from mid-May to late September. Later in the summer females lay around 30 eggs in a large mound of vegetation usually near the water around trees . Decay of organic material in this "nest" helps warm the eggs and protects them from predators . Females guard the nest and care for the young up to three years after hatching and sometimes even longer .

In preparation for egg laying, the female searches for a place at the edge of a pond or marsh where there is moist debris--leaf mold, twigs and branches and even growing shrubbery. This she scrapes into a high mound and then digs a cavity in the top of the heap in which she deposits about 29-68 eggs. Unlike most other reptiles , she guards them until they hatch about nine weeks later. Incubation is 2-3 months.

When ready to hatch, baby alligators make faint squeaking sounds signaling their mother to help them tear open the mound. Baby alligators are 8 inches long when first hatched and grow 1 foot a year, reaching maturity at 6-7 years of age. It is uncertain how long alligators live; in isolated protected habitats they may live 50 years or more.

Young alligators are an easy prey to carnivorous fish, birds and mammals. At all stages of growth they are attached and eaten by large alligators.

Behavior

Alligators are diurnal and nocturnal . They live in large holes called dens , which provide protection from harsh conditions. Alligators usually bask in the spring and summer outside of their dens.

Somewhat clumsy out of water, the alligator is superbly equipped to live in it. They are strong swimmers and experts at drifting along on the surface, submerged except for their bulging eyes and nostrils. Their long flat jaws not even making a ripple in the water as they stalk turtles, swimming birds and fishes .Adult alligators have dens to which they regularly retire. These dens are holes in riverbanks, and it is in them that the cooler months are weathered. Except at breeding time, they are likely to lead a solitary existence.

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Alligator lucius Clarke 1888
  2. Alligator lucius Duméril and Bibron 1836: 75
  3. Alligator lucius Dumril & Bibron 1836: 75
  4. Alligator mississippiensis Conant & Collins 1991: 39
  5. Alligator mississippiensis Holbrook 1842: 53
  6. Crocodilus cuvieri Leach 1815: 117
  7. Crocodilus lucius Cuvier 1807: 28
  8. Crocodilus mississipiensis Daudin 1802

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

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An alligator is much like a crocodile in appearance, but has a broader, more rounded snout. Also the fourth tooth from the front of the lower jaw lies inside the closed mouth rather than outside as it does in the crocodile.

Members of the genus Alligator

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 19 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. (Jacare) · A. chiapasius · A. cynocephalus · A. darwini · A. hantoniensis · A. latirostris · A. lucius · A. mcgrewi · A. mefferdi · A. missisippiensis · A. mississipiensis (Mississippi Alligator) · A. mississipp · A. mississippiensis (Mississippi Alligator) · A. olseni · A. prenasalis · A. punctulatus · A. sclerops · A. sinensis (Chinese Alligator) · A. thomsoni

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Mean = 541.400 meters (1,776.247 feet), Standard Deviation = 1,737.390 based on 10 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

Curator for this page: Marco de Andrade. Date last reviewed: 12/30/1899

Last Revised: 7/2/2009