Alligator: 14 Facts

Above are two crocodiles, American on top,
Chinese on bottom. 

The alligator a large reptile resembling the crocodile, dwelling in waters of tropical regions of the western hemisphere.

1. Alligators frequent swamps and marshes and may be seen during the day basking on the ground in the heat of the sun. 
2. Alligators are slow in growth and as they age, their growth rate slows down even more. Males are generally larger than females.
3. Nearly fifty years are required for them to reach their full, potential length.
4. They are active animals, and they prey upon whatever game comes their way. 
5. Whenever they have captured an animal, they take it into the water and eat below the surface. 
6. They are rather timid, in spite of their size, but defend themselves viciously if attacked. 
7. When on shore, they rush with open mouth at their enemies and thrash their powerful tails from side to side. 
8. The young are hatched by the sun from eggs, of which the female lays 200 or more in great heaps of vegetable matter.
9. The alligators of South America were very often called caymans. 
10. One species is known as the spectacled cayman, because of the high bony rim surrounding the orbit of each eye. 
11. In the United States the alligator is not often seen north of Florida, but at one time it was not uncommon from North Carolina to the Gulf of Mexico. 
12. There are several alligator "farms" in Florida. 
13. Millions have been killed for sport and because of their hide and ivory. 
14. The flesh of the alligator is often eaten, and the leather made from its hide is beautiful and costly.

More Alligator Facts From The Web:

• Gator Fact Sheet (pdf.) by Savannah River Ecology Labroratory
• Alligator vs. Crocodiles by What Lurks Below
• Crocodiles, Gavials, Caimans, and Alligators
• Everglades National Park
• Alligator Farming: regulations by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Supperclass Tetrapoda: Class II Reptilia