Reptile

CLASS: Reptilia
ORDER: Crocodylia
FAMILY: Crocodylidae

SIZE:
Average length of male at maturity is 12 feet -- 450 - 500 lbs. Female usually smaller. Record length is around 18 feet (killed in 1890 near Vermillion Bay)

HABITAT:
Water and lowland areas of southeast United States and Florida

DIET:
Wild - (Carnivorous) fish, snakes, rodents, frogs, other small animals; known to eat dogs, cows, or deer along water's edge.

Zoo - Fish, chicken, beef, and horsemeat

FACTS:
Tough, thick scaly hide for protection (which ironically has meant its demise)

Eyes above the skull for observing while the rest of the body remains submerged

Short legs for walking which are kept close to the body while swimming; alligators can also attain fast speeds for a very short time when they first climb on land

Powerful tail used as weapon for defense, for catching food, and for swimming

Strong jaws -- powerful bite -- once closed, man can keep jaws shut pretty easily

Can grow 40 - 50 new sets of teeth in a lifetime.

In winter they bury themselves in mud or go into deep holes during very cold weather; during moderate weather they usually remain in water

Eyes glow pinkish color at night -- pigment making night vision possible; eyes have 3 eyelids, one being transparent

Cold-blooded -- sun themselves to warm up; lie on bank with mouth open to cool off

Breathe with lungs, not gills; must come to surface for air

Alligators have yellowish camouflage spots when babies; are almost totally black when adults with lighter underside

YOUNG:
9 inches long when hatch from leathery egg; mother can lay up to 50 eggs, incubation time approximately 3 months; nest built out of grasses and plants 3 feet high, 7 feet across

COMPARISON:
Alligators -- broad snout, dark color, only top teeth on outside of mouth

Crocodiles -- more aggressive than alligator, yellowish-green-gray coloring, all teeth protrude; pointed snout

STATUS:
THREATENED -- once endangered due to overhunting; now protected due to its similarity of appearance to the endangered crocodile.

1961 - Louisiana banned alligator hunting
1966 - Officially added to Federal Endangered Species List
1972 - Safe population
1972 - First legal harvest since 1961

In some parts of Louisiana and Florida alligators have become a nuisance.

REFERENCE:
"The Amphibians and Reptiles of Louisiana," Harold A. Dundee and Douglas A. Rossman