Alligator

Alligators are native to only two countries United States and China. American Alligators are establish in the subtropical southeast US, all of Florida & Louisiana; Alabama & Mississippi; the southern parts of Georgia, coastal South & North Carolina; Southeastern Texas & extreme southeastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. The majority of American Alligators inhabit Florida & Louisiana, with over a million alligators in every state.

American Alligators live in freshwater environment, such as ponds, marshes, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and swamps, as well as salty environments.

The Chinese alligator at present is establish only in the Yangtze River valley and very endangered, with only a couple dozen supposed to be left in the wild. Really, far more Chinese alligators live in zoos about the world than can be found in the wild. For example, Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in southern Louisiana has several in captivity in an effort to preserve the species. Miami-Dade County Zoo in Miami, FL has a breeding pair also.

An alligator is a crocodilian in the type Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. The name alligator is an anglicized form of the Spanish el lagarto (the lizard), the name by which early Spanish explorers & settlers in Florida called the alligator.

There are 2 living alligator species: the American Alligator and the Chinese Alligator. Alligators are characterized by a wider nose than crocodiles. Both living type also tend to be dark in color, often almost black but color is very dependent on the water.

Algae-laden waters create greener alligators; alligators from waters with a lot of tannic acid from suspended trees are often darker Also, in alligators only the upper teeth can be seen with the jaws closed, in contrast to true crocodiles, in which upper and lower teeth can be seen.

Though, many persons bear jaw deformities which complicate this means of identification. An average American alligator's weight and length is 360 kg and 4 m long. According to the Everglades National Park website.

The largest alligator still recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches long 5.3 m, though according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife protection Commission web site the Florida state record for length is a 14 foot 5/8 inch male from Lake Monroe in Seminole County.

The Florida record for weight is a 1,043 pound male from Orange Lake in Alachua County. The largest alligator still recorded in Alabama measured 12 feet 3.7 m. The largest alligator ever recorded calculated 19 feet 5.8 m and was found on Marsh Island, Louisiana. Few of the giant specimens were weighed, but the larger ones could have exceeded a ton in weight. The Chinese Alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 2 m in length.