Alligator mississippiensis

(Daudin, 1802)

Vernacular names
English : American alligator
French : Alligator du Mississippi

Classification
Class : Reptilia
Order : Crocodylia
Family : Alligatoridae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
The species reaches up to 4.6 m in length for a weight up to 453 kg. Males are bigger than females. Biggest alligator species with broad head and rounded snout. Coloration usually very dark, but goes from olive to almost black. Cream belly.

Range and habitat
This species occurs in North America and is endemic to south-east USA, being found from Virginia and North Carolina to Florida, east to extreme west Texas. Lives mostly in freshwater marshes, swamps and lakes.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : LEAST CONCERN
CITES : Appendix II
Status : The species was once listed as endangered as its populations had crashed. Thanks to legal protection, it has now recovered very well.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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