SCIENTIFIC NAME: Alligator mississippiensis

The American alligator is an amphibious reptile that spends all of its time in and around swamps and rivers. Alligators are related to crocodiles but have a broad snout and do not have a side notch that exposes the long fourth tooth of the lower jaw like crocodiles. The alligator’s upper jaw teeth overlap those of the lower jaw and hide them from view. Alligators and crocodiles are descendants from reptiles that lived between 225 and 65 million years ago.

An alligator will court and mate at night in shallow water during April or May. Bulls roar to call females and to warn other males to stay away. Females and young alligators also make a call. After mating, the female will prepare her nest on the bank of a pond, lay her eggs and cover them with wet, rotting vegetation and mud. Eggs are incubated by the heat of the sun and hatch in about 60 days. When the young hatch, they call to their nearby mother who will carry them in her mouth or lead them to the pond, where they remain with her during their first year.

The alligator has been a target for hunters for many years because of its leather skin that can be made into shoes, handbags, and other items. Hunting has greatly reduced alligator populations in the past. In the 1969, the American alligator was placed under federal protection, and its numbers have since increased. In 1987 the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the American alligator to be out of danger.