American Alligator Research Paper

Common name:American alligator
Alligator mississippiensis (Daudin, 1802) http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/Animals/Reptiles/Crocodiles-Alligators/American-Alligator.aspx

Taxonomy:
Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Alligatoridae
Genus: Alligator
Species: A. mississippiensis

Description
The American alligator has a large lizard-like body and short legs. They also possess a muscular tail. They are covered by a scaled, rough hide. Adults have a dark colour, while young ones are black but have yellow blotches and stripes. They are mostly found in fresh water. Unlike crocodiles their fourth tooth is hidden, because they have an internal socket on the upper jaw. The grown-up female is 3
meter, and the adult male is somewhere around 4.5 and 5 meters (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). Both female and male have a strong tail used for swimming (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). The grown-up female and male have a defensively covered body called osteoderms and when matured they are olive chestnut or dark shaded (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009).Adult males may weigh between 180-228 kg; however the largest male can weigh about 454 kg.

Habitat & Habits
Their habitat can be man-made or natural fresh water lakes, rivers, ponds and wetlands.
Female alligators are not widely distributed while male alligators are well distributed, they are found in a variety of regions.When the mating season comes, both female and male are in vast ranges to mate (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). Alligators are carnivores, but they eat more than just meat. They can eat from sticks to fish (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). The alligators hunt prey during the evening; they snap their prey and gulp down the whole prey (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). When alligators are making an attack, they camouflage and launch a surprise attack on their
prey.
Feeding
Crocodiles are carnivores, and they have very strong jaws that can crack a turtle shell. They mostly feed on fish, turtles, snakes, birds, mammals and even other alligators. They use their sharp teeth to seize and hold their prey while they swallow small preys whole (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009).
Breeding
Rearing happens during the evening in shallow waters (Saalfield, Conway, and Calkins, 2011).
Males thunder and roar to draw in the females (Saalfield, Conway, and Calkins, 2011). It is common for males to stick their heads out of the water and aim at their preyneck as a target (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). Their mating framework is polygynous, and they achieve development at 6 feet (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). Mating happens in April and May (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). After mating, the female form a home in the vegetation, and around late June and early July they lay from 25-50 eggs (Webb, Conway, Calkins, and Duguay, 2009). The eggs are secured in vegetation and require around 65 days to hatch (Saalfield, Conway, and Calkins, 2011). The sex of the offspring is determinedby the incubation temperature: if the temperature is below 30 degrees Celsius, the offspring will be mostly females. However, the temperature is above 34 degree, most offspring’s will be male. Temperatures that are within 30-34 degrees will result into an equal number of both
sexes.
Range
They are found in thesoutheastern UnitedStates: southern Virginia-North Carolina outskirt, near the fringe of the Gulf Coast and Florida (Webb, Conway, Calkins, & Duguay, 2009).
Ecology
Alligators construct gator holes using their tails. These gator holes are used to retain water during dry periods of the year. Thegator holes attract prey which the alligators feed on. The paths that are used by alligators in the saw grass become wider with time and aid in flooding marshes, during the wet season. Alligator are no longerendangered; however they are still classified as a threatened species. Humans should learn how to co-exist peacefully with alligators.