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Characteristicsĭomestic American alligators range from long and slender to short and robust, possibly in response to variations in factors such as growth rate, diet, and climate.
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However, the full genome, published in 2014, suggests that the alligator evolved much more slowly than mammals and birds. The alligator's full mitochondrial genome was sequenced in the 1990s and it suggests the animal evolved at a rate similar to mammals and greater than birds and most cold-blooded vertebrates. This alligator and the American alligator are now considered to be sister taxa, meaning that the Alligator mississippiensis lineage has existed in North America for over 8 million years. Unlike the other extinct alligator species of in the same genus, the fossil skull was virtually indistinguishable from that of the modern American alligator. In 2016, a Miocene (about 23 to 5.3 million years ago) fossil skull of an alligator was found at Marion County, Florida. Fossils identical to the existing American alligator are found throughout the Pleistocene, from 2.5 million to 11.7 thousand years ago. The Chinese alligator likely descended from a lineage that crossed the Bering land bridge during the Neogene. Fossil alligatoroids have been found throughout Eurasia, because bridges across both the North Atlantic and the Bering Strait connected North America to Eurasia about 66 to 23 million years ago.Īlligators and caimans split in North America during the late Cretaceous, and the caimans reached South America by the Paleogene, before the closure of the Isthmus of Panama during the Neogene period, from about 23 to 2.58 million years ago. Leidyosuchus of Alberta is the earliest known fossil, from the Campanian era 83 to 72 million years ago. Members of this superfamily first arose in the late Cretaceous, about 100–66 million years ago. The superfamily Alligatoroidea includes all crocodilians (fossil and extant) that are more closely related to the American alligator than to either the Nile crocodile or the gharial. They are grouped in the family Alligatoridae with the caimans. In 1807 Georges Cuvier created the genus Alligator the American alligator shares this genus with the Chinese alligator. The American alligator was first classified by French zoologist François Marie Daudin as Crocodilus mississipiensis in 1801.
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Eggs are laid in a nest of vegetation, sticks, leaves, and mud in a sheltered spot in or near the water. Male American alligators use infrasound to attract females. Throughout the year, in particular during the breeding season, American alligators bellow to declare territory and locate suitable mates. They play an important role as ecosystem engineers in wetland ecosystems through the creation of alligator holes, which provide both wet and dry habitats for other organisms. It is distinguished from the sympatric American crocodile by its broader snout, with overlapping jaws and darker coloration, and is less tolerant of saltwater but more tolerant of cooler climates than the American crocodile, which is found only in tropical climates.Īmerican alligators are apex predators and consume fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The American alligator inhabits freshwater wetlands, such as marshes and cypress swamps from Texas to southeastern and coastal Virginia. Females are smaller, measuring 2.6 to 3 م (8.5 to 9.8 قدم) in length. It is one of two living species in the genus Alligator within the family Alligatoridae it is larger than the other extant alligator species, the Chinese alligator.Īdult male American alligators measure 3.4 to 4.6 م (11.2 to 15.1 قدم) in length, and can weigh up to 453 kغ (999 رطل). The American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile endemic to the southeastern United States.