Natural History: American Alligator

On our final class field trip we had the pleasure of seeing over a dozen American Alligators Alligator mississippiensis in their natural habitat basking in the sun with not a worry in the world. These creatures are the most commonly recognized large reptile in all of the country and they inspire such interest when one runs across them due to their large prehistoric looking body. The American Alligator is the largest reptile living in the United States and is found only in the South Eastern U.S. from Texas to North Carolina in swampy areas where the reptile can remain close to water while also basking in the sun. The males are the larger sex in this species with recorded sizes reaching an incredible fourteen feet while females reach a maximum size of around nine feet. Alligators like most species reproduce in the spring and once breeding has been accomplished females then build a large mound using resources in the area in which to lay their eggs. Females lay between 25 and 50 eggs and then cover them with more mud and debris in order to incubate the eggs and protect them from external dangers such as the environment and predators. The sex of the unborn alligators is determined by the temperature of the ground during a very small window of time in the eggs development. Higher temperatures lead to males while lower temperatures produce females. The female gator will stay near its nest while the eggs develop and once they hatch she quickly digs them out and moves them into water where she will remain with them as they develop. Alligators act as apex predators in their environment eating fish to birds and anything in between. They large reptiles show little movement besides moving in and out of water and do everything they can to conserve energy. They are large but very immobile animals unless they need to move in which case they can move quickly across land or water to a safe area.