The largest alligator ever recorded anywhere was found in the late 1900’s on Marsh Island in Louisiana. This big guy measured an astounding 19 feet 2 inches, and had an estimated 2,200 pounds of body mass! The average American alligator weighs 200 pounds and measures 7 feet 6 inches long.[1]
What Does A American Alligator Look Like
ImagesView all[2]
What Do American Alligators Look Like?
Alligators have a long, rounded snout that has upward facing nostrils at the end; this allows breathing to occur while the rest of the body is underwater. The young have bright yellow stripes on the tail; adults have dark stripes on the tail. It’s easy to distinguish an alligator from a crocodile by the teeth.[3]
What Are American Alligators Color?
Adult alligators are primarily dark gray in color with a lighter color underside, although juvenile alligators will have light colored stripes on their sides for camouflage. American crocodiles are a brownish gray color, and are generally paler colored than alligators.[4]
How Big Is A Full Grown American Alligator?
Male alligators grow faster and larger than females. Females rarely exceed 9 feet in length and large females can weigh more than 200 pounds. Males rarely exceed 13 feet in length and large males can weigh well over 500 pounds.[5]
What Is The Difference Between An American Alligator And An American Crocodile?
To distinguish the two, alligators have a more U-shaped snout while crocodiles have a more pointed or V-shaped one. In addition, alligators are black, while crocodiles are usually a lighter grayish brown. Learn More: American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)[6]
What Is The Life Expectancy Of An American Alligator
American alligators live about 50 years in the wild. After they are 4 feet long, alligators are safe from predators except humans and occasionally other alligators.[7]
Can Alligators Live Up To 100 Years?
Alligators live about as long as humans and average 70 years, but can be 100 years old, if they can survive a difficult life which starts with biting and fighting that never ends.[8]
What Is The Oldest Alligator In The World?
The oldest alligator on record is Muja, who is 85 years old. Alligators are reptiles and members of the crocodilian family, which includes American alligators, Chinese alligators, crocodiles, and caimans.Dec 11, 2021[9]
What Is The Longest Lifespan Of An Alligator?
While wild alligators can be expected to live 30-50 years, captive alligators frequently live to 70 years or even older. The oldest alligator currently in captivity lives in the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia and is over 85 years old!Jan 9, 2022[10]
How Long Has American Alligator Been Around
The species, scientists say, is more than 150 million years old, managing to avoid extinction 65 million years ago when their prehistoric contemporaries, the dinosaurs, died off.[11]
When Did The American Alligator Evolve?
The first alligator ancestors evolved some 245 million years ago. About 80 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, crocodilians appeared.[12]
Is The American Alligator A Dinosaur?
Alligators are not dinosaurs, though they belong to the same order as dinosaurs once did. Their ancestors were closely related to dinosaurs and walked the earth at the same time. While dinosaurs went extinct, alligator ancestors went on to evolve into the alligators we see on Earth today.[13]
Did American Alligators Almost Go Extinct?
The American alligator once neared extinction. By the 1950s, demand for hides and uncontrolled hunting in the southeastern United States had almost wiped out the species after a 200 million-year run on planet Earth.[14]
Where Is The American Alligator In The Food Web
Sitting at the top of the food chain, alligators are apex predators and help keep other animal populations in balance. By digging holes and leaving trails throughout marshes, they create habitats for fish and marine invertebrates. Alligators also help protect birds.Jun 28, 2016[15]
What Role Do Alligators Play In The Ecosystem?
As alligators move from gator holes to nesting mounds, they help keep areas of open water free of invading vegetation. Without these ecosystem services, freshwater ponds and shrubs and trees would fill in coastal wetlands in the alligator’s habitat, and dozens of species would disappear.[16]
Where Are Alligators On The Ecosystem?
Alligators are usually found in freshwater, slow-moving rivers. They also live in swamps, marshes and lakes. They can only tolerate salt water for brief periods because they do not have salt glands.[17]
Are Crocodiles Top Of The Food Chain?
Crocodiles are apex predators within their environments. Despite people being scared of apex predators, these predators are critical for a healthy ecosystem. Every link in the food chain is needed, or the ecosystem will start to fail.[18]
Why Is The American Alligator Considered A Keystone Species?
Alligators are considered “keystone species”, a species that helps to fashion its environment and influence the types of species that live there. Alligators perform necessary services like providing fresh water for other wildlife to drink during droughts by digging “gator holes” that bring groundwater to the surface.[19]
How Many American Alligator Endangered
American Alligator – Endangered Species Coalitionwww.endangered.org › Animals[20]
Is The American Alligator An Endangered Species?
Least ConcernAmerican alligators were once threatened by extinction, but after being placed on the endangered species list in 1967, their population increased. This species is now classified as least concern. The main threat to these reptiles today is habitat loss caused by wetland drainage and development.[21]
Are Alligators Endangered 2022?
Alligators are no longer considered endangered. However, at one point, alligators were in great danger of extinction. From the 1800s through the mid-1900s, gators were often hunted for their skins, which were used in making leather. They were also poached for meat.[22]
How Many American Alligator Are Left?
An estimated 5 million American alligators are spread out across the southeastern United States. Roughly 1.25 million alligators live in the state of Florida. There are more than 1,000 American crocodiles, not including hatchlings, in Florida. Large male alligators are solitary, territorial animals.[23]
Is The American Alligator Population Increasing?
The American alligator is a rare success story of an endangered animal not only saved from extinction but now thriving. State and federal protections, habitat preservation efforts, and reduced demand for alligator products have improved the species’ wild population to more than one million and growing today.[24]
At What Trophic Level Does The American Alligator Eat
Tertiary Consumers:
The diets of tertiary consumers may include animals from both the primary and secondary trophic levels. Like secondary consumers, their diet may also include some plants. Examples of tertiary consumers include Hawks, Alligators and Coyotes. Hawks feed on small mammals, lizards and snakes.[25]
What Type Of Consumer Is An American Alligator?
Secondary consumers are mostly carnivores, from the Latin words meaning “meat eater.” In the Everglades, egrets and alligators are carnivores. They eat only other animals.May 19, 2022[26]
What Is The Food Chain For Alligators?
Predator and Prey
As carnivores, alligators basically eat anything in the realm of fish, amphibian, reptile, bird and mammal. Hatchlings devour snakes, fish, snails and amphibians. Hunting in the water at night, grown alligators consume most smaller prey whole.[27]
What Does American Alligator Eat?
Alligators are carnivorous. They have very strong jaws that can crack a turtle shell. They eat fish, snails and other invertebrates, birds, frogs and mammals that come to the water’s edge.[28]
What Biome Does The American Alligator Live In?
Habitat. The American alligator can be found in a variety of freshwater habitats including rivers, marshes, swamps and lakes.[29]
What Is The American Alligator Habitat
The American alligator is found in the United States from North Carolina to the Rio Grande in Texas. Alligators are usually found in freshwater, slow-moving rivers. They also live in swamps, marshes and lakes. They can only tolerate salt water for brief periods because they do not have salt glands.[30]
Resources
[1]https://www.captainjacksairboattours.com/3-how-big-are-alligators/
[2]https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/american-alligator
[3]https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/american-alligator%23:~:text%3DAlligators%2520have%2520a%2520long%252C%2520rounded,a%2520crocodile%2520by%2520the%2520teeth.
[4]https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/reptiles/alligator/%23:~:text%3DAdult%2520alligators%2520are%2520primarily%2520dark,generally%2520paler%2520colored%2520than%2520alligators.
[5]https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/species/detail/american-alligator%23:~:text%3DMale%2520alligators%2520grow%2520faster%2520and,weigh%2520well%2520over%2520500%2520pounds.
[6]https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/do-alligators-and-crocodiles-exist-together-anywhere-world%23:~:text%3DTo%2520distinguish%2520the%2520two%252C%2520alligators,American%2520alligator%2520(Alligator%2520mississippiensis)
[7]https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/american-alligator
[8]https://www.louisianaalligators.com/alligator-biology-and-behavior.html
[9]https://a-z-animals.com/blog/how-old-is-the-worlds-oldest-alligator/
[10]https://a-z-animals.com/blog/alligator-lifespan-how-long-do-alligators-live/
[11]https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/facts/american-alligator
[12]https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/facts/brachychampsa-montana
[13]https://a-z-animals.com/blog/are-alligators-dinosaurs/
[14]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/06/17/we-saved-the-alligators-from-extinction-then-moved-into-their-territory/
[15]https://phys.org/news/2016-06-alligators.html
[16]http://www.brookfield.k12.oh.us/Downloads/Reinsel%2520Go%2520Green%2520Day%25202.pdf
[17]https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/american-alligator
[18]https://www.crocodilesoftheworld.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Year-3-4-Food-Chains-and-Energy.pdf
[19]http://www.shipyardhhi.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Alligator-tent-card.pdf
[20]https://www.endangered.org/animals/american-alligator/
[21]https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Reptiles/American-Alligator
[22]https://www.captainjacksairboattours.com/7-are-alligators-endangered/
[23]https://defenders.org/wildlife/american-crocodile-and-alligator
[24]https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/facts/american-alligator
[25]https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/resources/resources/lesson-plans/coastal-ecology/wetlands-web
[26]https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/consumers/
[27]https://animals.mom.com/importance-alligator-food-chain-10804.html
[28]https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/american-alligator
[29]https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/americanalligator.htm
[30]https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/american-alligator