Alligator

Genus Alligator

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Facts Files we’re going to be talking about Alligators. If you like learning facts about animals then subscribe to this channel so you can stay up to date on all the new content.

There are two species of alligator in the world: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator. You can probably guess where they’re found based on their names but something interesting to note is that, besides the locations of their namesake, alligators don’t live anywhere else in the world. This is a smaller range compared to their crocodile cousins. Alligators are not crocodiles even though they look pretty similar. Alligators usually have a broader snout and when they close their mouths only their top teeth show (while closed-mouth crocodiles show off top and bottom teeth). Of course, this isn’t always a sure-fire way to determine a croc from a gator because jaw deformities can occur - besides, how close are you actually willing to put your face to an alligator’s mouth?

Chinese alligators are typically smaller than American alligators reaching lengths of about 6 feet (1.8m) on average. American alligators average 10 feet (3m) though have been observed at lengths of almost 20 feet (6m). Chinese alligators don’t usually weigh more than 80 pounds (40kg) while American alligators can reach 1,000 pounds (453kg) - though they typically weigh somewhere around 200 pounds (90kg). Besides size differences they are a little different from one another. Chinese alligators have a bony plate atop their eyes that American alligators lack. Also, the snout of a Chinese alligator swoops upward a bit more than that of an American alligator. Perhaps one of their largest disparities, however, is their population.

While American alligators have faced their fair-share of threats - in fact, it used to be way more common to see much larger American alligators but due to hunting for leather, larger individuals are rare - Chinese alligators seem to have drawn the short straw in the population pool. It’s guessed that at this point there are millions of alligators natively living in America, but it’s also believed that there are fewer than 200 alligators living wildly in China. Land development has had a huge impact on their numbers in the wild, though, thankfully, reintroduction efforts are underway with reintroduced individuals actually producing their own nests at this point. Yay for alligator babies!

Speaking of alligator babies, breeding in alligators occurs seasonally in the springtime as the weather is warming up. Mama gators will build nests to their eggs of which there are typically around 30 (though this can vary depending on the species and size of the alligator). What’s cool about alligator moms is that, unlike many reptiles, they will actually guard their nests during the 10 weeks the eggs develop and even help the babies to hatch. Yes, even though they have some of the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom, they have enough control of that power to help break open the eggs of their young without hurting the baby inside. Talk about great power and responsibility. Young alligators will usually stay with their mother for their first few years of life and she will do what she can to help protect them. By the time they reach about 5 years of age they’re ready to have little gator babies of their own. Alligators can live up to 50 years in the wild and even longer in captivity.

They’re opportunistic eaters and usually try to catch meals they can eat in one bite. American alligators eat insects, crabs, fish, frogs, rodents, snakes, raccoons, turtles, and even deer. Chinese alligators eat snails, crustaceans, insects, fish, shellfish and even birds and rodents from time to time. They live in slow moving rivers, swamps and streams and Chinese alligators have adapted to living in ditches and ponds of agricultural land. They can’t stay in salt water for very long because they don’t have salt glands. Since they are cold-blooded and thus do not produce their own body heat, during colder months they will enter a state kind of like hibernation called brumation. They’ll dig a burrow in preparation for this hibernation-like period and stay there until the weather becomes warm.

North America is the only place in the world where both alligators and crocodiles can be found. Better watch your step next time you’re in a swamp! It’s also believed by some that Chinese alligators were the inspiration behind Chinese dragons and, in fact, their name in Chinese means ‘dragon.’ What do you think? Can you see the resemblance?

For more facts on alligators, check out the links in the description. If you have a favorite animal you’d like to see covered let us know in the comments. Thank you for watching and be sure to give a thumbs up for more Animal Fact Files!