All About Alligators

Written by: Paige Leal

From the Disney movie “Princess and the Frog”, there is a large friendly alligator named Louis whose dream is to play jazz trumpet in a band of humans. It may be surprising but this is not how all alligators act.  Alligators are typically found in swamps, lurking with their two eyes sticking out of the water. Pretty creepy right?

American alligators live mostly in the southeastern United States, especially in places like Florida and Louisiana. They love freshwater habitats such as lakes, ponds, rivers, swamps, and marshes. Their bodies are basically built for this lifestyle. Their powerful tails help them swim, webbed feet help them move through water, and their eyes and nostrils sit high on their heads so they can stay mostly underwater while being able to watch what is happening around them.

How do they fill their large stomachs? Alligators are carnivores, but they are not especially picky eaters. Young alligators usually eat smaller animals like insects, frogs, fish, and other small creatures. As they grow, their range of food expands and can include fish, turtles, snakes, birds, and small mammals. Basically, if it is available and an alligator can catch it, that's dinner!

Although it may seem like it, alligators did not evolve from dinosaurs. Both alligators and dinosaurs came from a much older group of reptiles called archosaurs. Their family tree split into different branches more than 200 million years ago. Dinosaurs eventually led to birds, while another branch led to crocodilians, including today's alligators and crocodiles. So although an alligator is not a dinosaur, they do have some ancient relatives.

Some fun facts are that American alligators can live around 35 to 50 years in the wild and can grow more than 10 feet long. Female alligators are also surprisingly protective moms. They guard their nests and even help their babies get to the water after they hatch. Not many people know that alligators have a four-chambered heart, same as what humans and mammals have but unusual for reptiles They also have special cells in their eyes that reflect light, causing their eyes to glow reddish in the dark, as if their dark eyes alone was not creepy enough.

From ancient archosaurs to Florida swamps, alligators have been around for an incredibly long time. They may look like creatures from another world, but these prehistoric-looking reptiles are still very much part of ours!

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