Alligators are native to the United States and China. They can be found in the Southeastern parts of the United States. They are commonly found all over Florida and Louisiana, as well as in Southern parts of Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. In the coastal areas of South and North Carolina, The Atlantic Coast of North America, Eastern Texas, Along the Gulf Coast into Texas, and the Southeastern corner of Oklahoma, as well as in the Southern tip of Arkansas. The Chinese alligator can only be found in the Yangtze River valley and is extremely endangered. Alligators are restricted to the Coastal Plain, which includes the Central Savannah River Area of Georgia, and South Carolina.

These creatures typically live in these parts of the globe, and can be found in swampy areas, rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. Females and juveniles occasionally use seasonal wetlands such as the Carolina Bays. Alligators are primarily freshwater animals, however some have been known to occasionally venture out into brackish salt water. Alligators are also quite abundant on the Savannah River Site, including the river itself, its swamp and tributaries and other reservoirs on the site such as L-Lake and Par Pond. Alligators are quite common in swamps, bogs, and marshes in Florida.

Alligators live in somewhat colder climates, whereas crocodiles can only be found in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.

Alligators are reptiles. Reptiles have scaly skin and lay shelled eggs, unlike amphibians that have smooth skin and must be kept wet in order from drying out. Amphibians also differ from reptiles such as alligators, as their eggs do not have shells.

Although reptiles and amphibians are distantly related to one another, they still have quite a few differences. These differences can most often be distinguished from each other based off of physical appearance as well as different stages of life.

The word amphibian means “living double lives”. This refers to the creatures who are living two lives: one in water with gills and the other on land once they grow lungs as they age. Amphibians are cold blooded vertebrates.

The word reptile means “to creep stealthily under cover of darkness”. This group of animals have scales, breathe air through lungs, and usually lay eggs. Most reptiles live on land. Reptile skin is unlike the skin of amphibians, as it is dry and scaly. Amphibians are usually required to stay near a water source in order to prevent themselves from drying out. Reptiles such as the alligator do not have this problem.

Amphibian’s eggs are soft and covered by a gel. They lack a hard protective covering and can usually be found in water or other damp places. Whereas reptiles such as the alligator lay amniotic eggs with a hard leathery surface. They usually lay these eggs on land or keep them inside of their bodies until they are ready to hatch.

All crocodilian species are able to see in color. Interestingly enough, because reptiles and birds are the closest living relatives to dinosaurs and both are able to see in color, it has also been assumed that dinosaurs were able to see in color as well.

Furthermore, most animals that are color blind; have eyes that are made mostly of rod cells. These rod cells are good at collecting light; however do not collect color vision. In this case, many nocturnal animals such as owls and/or bats are color blind. Therefore since alligators and crocodiles are unlike the owl or bat being that crocodilians are diurnal creatures they have very good color vision.

It has been rumored however that the albino alligator may be colorblind by default as a result of vision problems. If this is not the case, it at least has problems with its vision, probably also due to the fact that they are sensitive to the sun and to predators.

Contrary to what many may believe, alligators are typically not as aggressive as one might think. Another thing to consider is that alligators are typically less aggressive than crocodiles. Generally, alligators will not attack humans unless they are provoked or feel threatened in some way. The majority of problems including alligators are usually just related to their being in places where they are not wanted. Only a small number have actually involved alligators attacking.

However it should be noted that while alligator attacks on humans are rare, they do occur from time to time. More than 200 unprovoked alligator attacks have been documented since 1948, with a few even resulting in fatality. It is for this very reason that individuals who are living or vacationing in an area where alligators are known to be found , take certain precautions in order to avoid a dangerous encounter.

Individuals should never feed or entice alligators. One of the first things to stress about this, is that it is against the law. Alligators also lose their natural fear of people when they begin to associate food with people. As a result of feeding alligators, people create problems and potential attacks on themselves and others.

Never feed other wildlife near the water where an alligator may reside. Disposing of anything that an alligator could see as a potential meal is crucial, otherwise alligators will not understand that you are not intentionally trying to feed it.

Never let a pet or child swim or run along the shoreline of waters that are known to contain alligators. Alligators are typically attracted to dogs as they are about the same size of the alligator’s natural prey.

If an individual comes across an alligator, and there is no immediate danger the best thing to do is leave the creature alone. Alligators sometimes need to move great distances in order to meet their survival needs and will often show up in undesirable locations such as driveways, backyards and swimming pools. This makes your private property a temporary resting place for the animal. Individuals should consider the following in this case: #1. More than likely the gator will leave on its own. #2. If an alligator is longer than four feet and exhibits aggressive behavior, it is classified as a nuisance and is often harvested for its meat and hide by permitted nuisance trappers. So if you are looking for a more humane way of ridding of the creature, you may just want to stay indoors until the gator leaves.

Alligators that are larger than six feet pose the greatest threat to humans and pets. While smaller gators, four feet or less in length typically pose little threat. However both are still able to deliver a nasty bite that should immediately be checked out by a physician as the bacteria in an alligator’s mouth can easily cause a bite wound to become infected. People should never get closer than 15 feet (5 meters) to an alligator. If an alligator seems aggressive, hisses, or opens its mouth in defense, you should back away.

As mentioned earlier, crocodiles are typically more aggressive, followed by the caiman, and then the alligator and gharial. However, there may also be notable exceptions. For example, the rare American Crocodile is reported to be temperamentally closer to the American Alligator than its nearer relatives. The African Dwarf Crocodile is also known to be exceedingly timid and docile. These traits probably also account for its increasing popularity within the pet trade.

Crocodilians will attack in self defense, to obtain food, and in order to protect their young up to the age of two years after birth. These creatures can become very territorial and dangerous in these types of situations.

The psychological orientation of alligators is fascinating. It appears that alligators tend to regard humans as animals that are larger than themselves, and for this reason will not generally attack a human without some kind of provocation. A small number of incidents have occurred however when their predatory or protective instincts were triggered somehow (mentioned above).

It is true that alligators are a keystone species. A keystone species is a species that has a certain behavior that benefits other species and environments in their natural habitats. Without this keystone behavior, the environment and all of the species in the area would be at a loss.

It is for this reason that American Alligators have earned the distinguished title of “Keeper of the Glades”. As a keystone species, alligators are known to use their powerful feet, tails, and snout to dig holes through thick muck. These holes then become small ponds (referred to as “alligator holes”) that may span 20 feet or more. During times of drought, aquatic animals such as fish, turtles, etc. live in these holes. These holes also provide a source of water for terrestrial animals and plants.

A web of life exists within these alligator holes. For example, Algae and other tiny organisms such as Periphyton, grow and are eaten here by aquatic insect larvae, tadpoles, small fish, etc. These animals are then eaten by larger fish and frogs. Those animals are then eaten by even bigger fish, birds, turtles and smaller mammals, gators as well, etc. It’s a chain reaction, a food chain.

These alligator holes also often support a lush plant growth from the rotting plants that are within the mud. If enough time has passed, these holes can even be found located in the center of an island of trees. When the rain returns and the drought is over, the life that has been preserved thanks to the gator hole become the beginning of repopulation in the marshlands. As this occurs, the alligator holes often expand along with it.

Alligators are ectotherms. In fact all reptiles are ectothermic creatures, meaning that they are cold blooded and that their bodies are unable to creature heat, so they must get that heat from another source such as the sun.

Alligators get their heat from the air, sun, water, or ground. It is the surroundings around them that helps determine how hot or cold they are. In order for an alligator to eat properly and be active it requires warmth. If an alligator gets too cold everything will begin to slow down and the animal will become lethargic. Their food will also have trouble digesting properly and their heart rates will slow down during this time, as well as their lungs.

If an alligator is cold blooded it should not be taken literally, for instance it doesn’t mean that their blood is literally “cold”, it just means that they need to regulate their body temperatures by basking in the sun, moving to warm water, and/or resting in, on, or around something that radiates some kind of heat. If an ectothermic creature gets too hot they will often seek shade or move into cooler water.

Cold blooded creatures such as the alligator are hot when their environment is hot and cold when their environment is cold. In hot environments, they can even have blood that is much warmer than that of a warm blooded animal. Cold blooded creatures are generally a lot more active in warm environments and more sluggish in cold environments. This is due to their muscle activity that depends on the chemical reactions which run quickly when it is hot and slowly when it is cold.

Alligators and other cold blooded creatures require much less energy to survive than warm blooded animals do. Mammals and birds (warm blooded creatures or endothermic) require much more food and energy than cold blooded animals of the same weight do. This is because in warm blooded creatures, heat loss from their bodies is proportional to the surface area of their bodies, while the heat created by their bodies is proportional to the surface area of their bodies; the heat created by their bodies is proportional to their mass.

The ratio of a body’s surface area to its mass is less the larger the animal is. What this means is that larger, warm blooded animals unlike the ectothermic alligator are able to generate more heat than they lose and more easily able to keep their body temperatures stable. This in turn also makes it easier for them to stay warmer if they are larger. What this also means is that if a warm blooded creature is too small it will lose its heat faster than it is able to produce it. This is where being a cold blooded creature has its advantage. For cold blooded creatures such as the alligator, they do not need to burn as much food to maintain a constant body temperature, which in turn makes them more energy efficient and able to survive for longer periods of time without food than warm blooded creatures can. Many cold blooded creatures will try to keep their body temperatures as low as possible when food is scarce.

Ectothermic creatures such as the alligator also have the advantage of being less prone to infections than warm blooded animals. This lies in the fact that being a warm blooded body provides a warm environment for viruses, bacteria and parasites to reside. As a general rule, mammals and birds since they are warm blooded, are usually prone to more problems with infections and such than reptiles, whose constantly changing body temperature make life more difficult for bacteria, etc. to survive in.

Mammals do however; still have a stronger immune system than cold blooded animals. A reptile’s immune system is more efficient when the animal is warmer, however since bacteria are known to most likely grow slower in lower temperatures, reptiles will sometimes lower their body temperatures when they have an infection.

Alligators are primarily freshwater animals, however they have been known to occasionally venture out into brackish salt water. Alligators typically live in swampy areas, rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. Females and juveniles occasional use seasonal wetlands such as Carolina Bays. On the Savannah River Site, alligators are known to be abundant in the Savannah River, its swamps and tributaries, Other reservoirs on the site where alligators can sometimes be found include L-Lake and Par Pond.

American Alligators inhabit the Southeastern United States. They were once federally listed as an endangered species, but have since been recovered and are more common in many areas of the Southeast. Alligators have been known to occur or reside on the Atlantic Coast of North America from Florida, through coastal North Carolina, as well as along the Gulf Coast into Texas. Alligators are restricted to the Coastal Plain, which includes the Central Savannah River Area of Georgia and South Carolina.

The first thing to note here is that alligators are not “born”, they “hatch”. The second thing to note is that they do not hatch possessing teeth. To be more specific, alligators begin their life hatching from their egg by using the one tooth they possess early on. This tooth is known as an “egg tooth” this egg tooth grows similar to that of an arhiniss horn on their nose and is used to break open the shell of their eggs when it is time for them to hatch.

As the alligator grows, the egg tooth will eventually disappear. What is interesting about alligators is that they hatch already resembling adult alligators; in that they are already able to walk, swim and vocalize. However they are unable to bite right away, since they only hatch with an egg tooth, however they will later lose this egg tooth and begin to grow an actual set of teeth.

An alligator’s egg tooth is a small white lump on the tip of the nose that helps them scratch away a weakness in the egg shell when they are ready to hatch. It is tiny and also pretty sharp.

Alligators are not producers as they are not plants, and do not help soil by decomposing dead animals. Rather, alligators are consumers because they eat other animals.

Every organism needs to obtain energy in order to live. An example of this is a plant getting energy from the sun. Some animals eat plants, others eat other animals. A food chain is the sequence of who eats whom in a biological community or ecosystem to obtain nutrition. Food chains typically start with a primary energy source such as the sun or boiling hot sea vents.

The next link that can be found in this chain is an organism that makes its own food from the primary energy source. An example of this would be photosynthetic plants that are able to make their own food using sunlight. After these organisms, come organisms that eat the autotrophs. These organisms are called herbivores or primary consumers. An example would be a rabbit eating grass.

The next link in the food chain is animals that eat herbivores. These animals are referred to as secondary consumers. An example of a secondary consumer would be a snake eating a rabbit that ate the grass. In addition, these animals are then eaten by even larger predators. (The snake might get eaten by an owl). Tertiary consumers are eaten by quaternary consumers, (hawks eating owls).

A flow of energy moves around the food chain from the sun or hydrothermal vent to a top predator. As this energy flows from organism to organism, energy is lost at each step. A network of many food chains is often referred to as a food web.

When organisms die, they are usually eventually eaten by detrivores (examples are vultures or worms). They are then broken down by decomposers (bacteria and fungi) and the exchange of energy continues.

Some organism’s positions within the food chain have been known to vary as their diets differ. For example, if a bear eats berries, the bear is functioning as a primary consumer. When a bear eats a plant eating rodent, it would be functioning as a secondary consumer. If it eats a salmon, its functioning as a tertiary consumer because the salmon is a secondary consumer that eats things such as herring. The herring eats zooplankton that eat phytoplankton, which make their own energy from sunlight.

Alligators are considered to be amniotes. Amniotes are a group of tetrapods or four limbed animals that possess a backbone and spinal column and have a terrestrially adapted egg. These include synapsids (mammals along with their extinct kin) and sauropsides (reptiles and birds, as well as their fossil ancestors).

Amniotic embryos whether they are laid as eggs or carried by the female, are protected and aided by several extensive membranes. The first amniotes were referred to as “basal amniotes” and were creatures that resembled small lizards that had evolved from the amphibianreptiliomorphs about 340 million years ago, in the carboniferous geologic period. These amniotes eggs were also able to survive out of water which allowed them to branch out into drier environments. The eggs could also “breathe” and “cope” with waste, allowing the eggs and the amniotes to evolve into larger forms. The amniotes spread across the globe and became the dominate land vertebrates.

Early on in the evolutionary history of amniotes, basal amniotes evolved into 2 main lines of amniotes that came to be known as the synapids and the sauropsides, both of which persist into the modern era.

Amniotes are able to be characterized based in part by embryonic development that includes the formation of several extensive membranes known as the amnion, chorion, and allantois. Amniotes develop directly into a typical terrestrial form with limbs, as well as a thick stratified epithelium, rather than entering a feeding larval tadpole stage followed by metamorphosis as in amphibian.

In creatures that can be classified as amniotes, these amniotes unlike amphibians, transition from a two layered periderm to cornified epithelium that is triggered by thyroid hormone during embryonic development, rather than metamorphosis. This unique embryonic feature of amniotic creatures may reflect specializations of eggs to survive drier environments, as their massive size and yolk content of eggs has also suggested an evolution for direct development to a larger size.

Features of amniotes evolved for survival on land and include certain characteristics such as the following: a sturdy and leathery hard eggshell, an allantois that evolved to facilitate respiration while also providing a reservoir for disposal of wastes. Kidneys and large intestines that are well suited to water retention.

The first amniotes such as Casineria kiddi lived about 340 million years ago and evolved from amphibian reptoliomorphs and resembled small lizards. Their eggs were small and covered with a leathery membrane, however they were not in a hard shell like those of the birds and crocodiles that we know of today.

Classifications of amniotes have traditionally recognized the three following classes based on major traits as well as physiology:

• Class Reptilia (reptiles)

1. Subclass Anapsida (“proto-reptiles”, possibly including turtles).
2. Subclass Diapsida (majority of reptiles, progenitors of birds).
3. Subclass Synapsida (Mammal like reptiles, progenitors of mammals).

 

• Class Aves (birds)

1. Subclass Neornithes (all modern birds & several extinct subclasses).

 

• Class Mammals (mammals)

1. Subclass Monotremata (egg laying mammals).
2. Subclass Theria (marsupials and placental mammals).