Introduction to Alligator
Alligator, a large reptile that inhabits swamps, rivers, lakes, and marshes. There are two species of alligators. The American alligator is found from North Carolina south to Florida and west to central Texas. The Chinese alligator is found in the lower valley of China's Yangtze River. The Chinese alligator is smaller than the American alligator, but otherwise the two species are similar. The caiman is a closely related animal.
Alligator skin makes a handsome, durable leather and is widely used for handbags, wallets, shoes, belts, and watch bands. In the United States the meat of the tail is eaten in stews and soups. Hunting once brought the American alligator close to extinction. Since the 1960's, hunting has been strictly regulated, allowing American alligator populations to recover and thrive. Most commercial alligator products come from alligators raised on alligator farms. The Chinese alligator is endangered due to loss of its habitat and pollution of its remaining range.
The American alligator grows up to nineteen feet long and weighs 600 pounds.What Is Home to American Alligators?American alligators live in watery areas of the southeastern United States. They live in lakes, ponds, and marshes. They live in rivers, creeks, and swamps. They even live in canals.
Alligators often dig burrows to live in. They use their mouths and clawed feet to rip and dig the earth. They sweep away loose mud and dirt with their tails. A burrow might be a hole or a tunnel in a mud bank. It might be a ’gator hole dug into the bottom of a pond.
’Gator holes are an important part of a swamp. Mud and plants pushed aside by the alligator become rich soil where new, healthy plants grow. During a drought, or dry period, a ’gator hole still holds water. It is home to both the alligator and its young. Fish, birds, and other animals live in and near the ’gator hole, too. They may stay until the rains return.
Description
Alligators are closely related to crocodiles. Alligators have broad heads and rounded snouts; crocodiles, triangular-shaped heads and pointed snouts. Both of the enlarged teeth on each side of the crocodile's lower jaw are plainly visible when the mouth is closed. In the alligator, however, these teeth fit into pits in the upper jaw and are not visible when the mouth is closed.
The American alligator ranges in length from 6 to 19 feet (1.8 to 5.8 m) and weighs 100 to 600 pounds (45 to 270 kg). Males are usually much larger than females. The Chinese alligator grows to about 6 feet in length.
An alligator has a long, thick tail; four short legs; and large, powerful jaws. The eyes, nostrils, and ears (which are behind the eyes, hidden under flaps of skin) are on the top of the snout. Alligators often float with only the nostrils, eyes, and ears above water.
The tough skin is made up of small, leathery plates. Only the skin of the belly and sides, which is free of underlying bony material, is used commercially. An adult is brownish-black to black with a white to yellowish-white belly. The young are black with yellow crossbands.
Habits
In the summer alligators sun themselves on land or float in water. They swim with their tails. Their walk is awkward and slow, but they can run rapidly for short distances. In the winter they hibernate in mud burrows.
In the spring, the female buries 30 to 60 eggs, each about three inches (7.5 cm) long, in a nest made of decaying plant material. At the end of a 9- to 10-week incubation period, the unhatched young make a peeping noise and the female uncovers the nest. The young are eight to nine inches (20 to 23 cm) long at birth and grow rapidly until they reach adulthood (at about 10 years of age). Alligators usually live about 50 years.
Baby alligators hatch and peep until the female uncovers the nest.Alligators have large stomachs, and eat enormous amounts of food during the summer. Young alligators feed mainly on insects, tadpoles, and frogs. Adults feed mainly on fish, but will eat almost any aquatic animal. They will also eat land animals, including humans, dogs, and cats, that they catch at the water's edge.
Adult alligators occasionally make a short, grunting noise, which is repeated several times. Angry adults make a hissing noise and the males often bellow or roar, especially during mating season.
Why Do Alligators Seem So Lazy?Alligators spend a lot of time doing nothing—both in and out of the water. By doing nothing, alligators control their body temperatures.
Since alligators are cold-blooded, they often lie in the sun to warm up. This is called basking. To keep from getting too hot, an alligator gapes, or lies with its mouth open. An alligator gapes for the same reason a dog pants—to let heat escape from its body.
A crocodilian’s heart has four chambers. These chambers help control an alligator’s temperature. If an alligator begins to overheat, more blood flows near the surface of the skin. The warm blood gives off its heat to the cooler surroundings.
Of course, an alligator can always move into the shade or cool water to beat too much heat.
Do Alligators Breathe Underwater?Alligators can’t breathe underwater. But they can stay there for an hour or more. When an alligator submerges, or goes underwater, its heart slows down. The alligator doesn’t have to breathe as often, but the heart still pumps blood to important organs, such as the brain.
Like many animals, alligators have two eyelids to protect each eye. But when an alligator submerges, a third eyelid covers each eye. This eyelid is clear. The clear eyelids act like swim goggles.
Flaps of skin cover an alligator’s ears at all times. But when an alligator submerges, special flaps close off its nostrils and the back of its throat. Nostril flaps keep the alligator from breathing in water. The throat flap lets an alligator open its mouth to catch prey without swallowing water.
Alligators are excellent swimmers. But they don’t swim with their legs. They swim by sweeping their tails from side to side.
How Do Alligators Move on Land?Alligators move three different ways on land. They high walk, belly walk, and belly run.
Alligators high walk when they aren’t in a hurry. In a high walk, an alligator’s body is up off the ground. The alligator walks like a mammal, one leg at a time. Alligators move slowly when they high walk. But they can high walk for long distances.
When an alligator belly walks, it moves like a lizard. It twists from side to side and pushes the earth with its legs and feet. Alligators belly walk to cross muddy ground or to slide quickly into water.
To escape danger, alligators sometimes belly run. This is just a faster belly walk, with the alligator’s belly off the ground. Alligators can belly run only for short distances.
Alligator Food and Parenting
Alligators eat many different animals. They eat fish, frogs, snakes, and crabs. They eat turtles, birds, and small mammals. Large alligators also eat pigs, deer, and cattle. Alligators can eat just about any animal that lives in or comes near the water.
Inside an alligator’s strong jaws are up to 80 sharp, cone-shaped teeth. An alligator uses its jaws and teeth to catch prey. With one snap, a large alligator can crush through bones or a turtle shell. But the alligator cannot chew its food. It must swallow its prey whole or tear it into pieces.
An alligator goes through thousands of teeth in a lifetime. Alligators often lose teeth tearing prey. But that’s okay for a young alligator. When one falls out, a new tooth grows in its place. Older alligators don’t regrow as many teeth as young ones do.
Why Are Alligators Such Good Hunters?Alligators are good hunters because they are so patient. They do not waste energy chasing their meals. They usually wait for food to come to them.
An alligator uses its senses of smell, hearing, and sight to find prey. Then it submerges and swims in for the attack. The alligator strikes so quickly that the prey is caught by surprise.
An alligator strikes in different ways. It may lunge onto the shore to grab an animal. It may leap 5 feet (1.5 meters) into the air to grab birds above. It may sweep its head sideways to grab fish and turtles swimming by.
Alligators don’t use up a lot of energy, so they eat less often than other animals do. Inactive alligators may go several months without eating.
How Do Alligators Communicate?Alligators communicate in many ways. They use body language to send signals. They also use sound and touch.
When alligators use body language, they send signals with their bodies. These signals may be warnings. A large alligator raises its head and slaps its jaw against the water, as if to say “Watch out! I’m stronger than you.” A small alligator submerges to say “Okay, you’re the boss!”
During courtship, alligators also use sound and touch. Both males and females bellow and growl. They rub necks and noses. The male slaps his jaw on the water and blows water bubbles to impress the female. He may do a water dance by shaking his body very quickly. This makes the water jump and “dance” along the alligator’s back. The shaking also makes a sound so low that humans can’t hear it. But the female alligator can.
Are Alligators Good Parents?Alligators are some of the best parents in the reptile world. Mothers guard their nests and help the eggs hatch. And sometimes both parents look after and protect the young.
A female alligator builds a nest on the ground. She uses her mouth to gather plants. She uses her feet and tail to push the plants and soil into a large mound, or pile, about 3 feet (0.9 meter) high and 7 feet (2.1 meters) wide. Then she lays her eggs in a hollow at the top of the mound nest and covers them up.
Alligators do not warm their eggs by sitting on them. They let the nest warm the eggs. As plants in the nest decay, they give off heat. This warms the eggs.
Even though a mother alligator does not sit on her eggs, she is always nearby. She guards the nest to keep away egg-eating animals, other alligators, and people.
Who’s That Chirping from the Nest?About nine weeks after a female alligator lays her eggs, chirping sounds come from the nest. The babies are hatching! But are they males or females? That depends on the temperature of the nest. If a nest stays warm, males hatch. If a nest is cool, females hatch. If the temperature is in-between, both males and females hatch.
When a mother alligator hears chirps, she uncovers the eggs. She picks up the hatchlings with her mouth and carries them to the water. She will also roll any unhatched eggs in her mouth to crack the shells and help the babies hatch.
Hatchlings are about 9 inches (23 centimeters) long. They can swim and catch their own food right away. But they still need protection, so they stay close to their mother. A hatchling may even bask on its mother’s head or back. If a hatchling is in danger, it cries out. This brings the mother right away. Hatchlings may stay with their mothers for a year or more.
Do American Alligators Have Enemies?Alligators are very large animals. A full-grown male may be more than 12 feet (3.7 meters) long. Animals as big as this have very few enemies. In fact, adult alligators fear only other adult alligators and people. Young alligators, however, have many enemies.
Dangers begin for young alligators even before they hatch. For example, animals such as raccoons and skunks steal and eat the eggs of American alligators. They wait for the mother to leave the nest to swim or to feed. Then they quickly raid the nest.
A hatchling like the one you see here faces many dangers. Foxes, bears, snakes, and birds of prey may snatch up hatchlings for a tasty meal. Young alligators may even have to watch out for larger alligators.
The American alligator is Alligator mississippiensis; the Chinese, A. sinensis. Alligators and caimans make up the alligator family, Alligatoridae.