A formidable predator, adapted to hunting in rivers and still water, that has been brought back from near extinction.

Life span
Many decades, maybe even more than 100 years.

Statistics
Adults are typically 2-3m in length, although individuals 4m long have been collected.

Physical description
Large, heavily armoured, lizard-like reptiles with long snouts and powerful tails. They have osteoderms (heavy plates of bone) underneath the dorsal scales, which act as armour. Teeth are 'thecodont', meaning they are set into sockets. Alligators are adapted to aquatic life by having webbed feet, nostrils on top of the snout that can be closed by valves, and eyes with a transparent membrane that is drawn across the eye when underwater. Other features are unique among reptiles. They have a muscular partition separating the pectoral and abdominal cavities (similar to the diaphragm of mammals) and alveoli in the lungs. Alligators also have a heart with four chambers, which helps to prevent mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.

Distribution
Southeastern USA (Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas) as well as Mexico.

Habitat
Swamps, ponds, slow rivers, lakes, any body of still or slow-flowing water. They also enter coastal marine waters.

Diet
Fish, small mammals, lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs.

Behaviour
Alligators and other crocodilians show a more complex social behaviour than most other reptiles. They are territorial during the breeding season and aggressive towards intruders, often with vocalisations. Alligators hear well and their senses of smell and eyesight are also highly developed. Predation is usually nocturnal and in or near water. Drowning is often used to kill prey. Alligators don't chew, instead they swallow their food whole or as big chunks.

Reproduction
Oviparous (egg laying). Eggs are laid in mounded nests constructed from plant matter and soil or sand. All crocodilians exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination. Alligators guard their nests and even help the hatchlings to leave the nest (the female alligator knows when her babies are hatching by the distinctive calls they make to attract her) by breaking it open and carrying the babies to the water in their mouths.

Conservation status
Estimated wild population: over one million. Nearly driven to extinction, American alligators have now been brought back from the brink by captive breeding and release programs and so are now more abundant than ever before recorded. They are even found occasionally in peoples swimming pools. 'Gators aren’t fussy about where they live.

Voice
Sounds produced by crocodiles are quite diverse and include roars, grunts, coughs, and purrs.

Best place to see
The Florida Everglades, USA.

Closest relative
Chinese Alligator, Alligator sinensis.