Alligator mississippiensis, the American Alligator, belongs to the order Crocodylia, and they can be found in swamps, rivers, and marches. They have nasal disk to help them breath above water, that what we usually see their snouts when they are swimming water.
The average sizes for female alligators are about 9-10 feet
long, and the males are usually about 10-15 feet long. Their legs are short.
They have five toes on the front and four toes on their back legs. When they hibernate
they keep their nose above the surface. They have osteodorms and scutes on
their backs and they are usually dark
brown. Alligators breed at night. Males
often bellow to makes bubbles when they want to attract a female. They are polygynous and males become
territorial and they will found off other male alligators. They may reproduce
with more than 10 females in their natural habitats. Courtship happens in April and then matting
occurs in May, they then lay eggs thirty to fifty eggs in June and they hatch
in August. The sex determination depends
on the on the temperature, when it’s about 90 oF males are produced.
An alligator’s diet typically consists
of turtles, fish, snakes, and small mammals.
The picture above is a group of alligators that we saw on
our last field trip of the semester. It was fascinating to see these reptiles
outside of the zoo, but to be around them in their own habitat. Even though we
couldn't go up and pet them, I still found it interesting to see how massive
and unique these animals are.
3 comments:
I thought it was so cool to see all of those alligators on the last field trip! I have never seen so many sun bathing together in one location. Such an awesome experience.
Donnelley WMA is a great place to see gators!!
It was a great find! I always thought alligators were more solitary animals, so it was really interesting to see that many alligators all in close proximity of each other.
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