An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. The name alligator is an anglicized form of the Spanish el lagarto (the lizard), the name by which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. There are two living alligator species: the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis).

Description

The alligator has been described as a 'living fossil from the age of reptiles, having survived on earth for 200 million years'.

An average American alligator's weight and length is 800 lbs (360 kg) and 13 feet (4 m) long, but can grow to 14.5 feet (4.39 m) long and weigh 1000 lbs (454.5 kg). According to the Everglades National Park website, the largest alligator ever recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches long (5.3 m), although according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission web site the Florida state record for length is a 14 foot 5/8 inch male from Lake Monroe in Seminole County.Fact: date=February 2008 The Florida record for weight is a 1,043 pound (13 feet 10 1/2 inches long) male from Orange Lake in Alachua County. The largest alligator ever recorded in Alabama measured 12 feet 08 inches (3.7 m). The largest alligator ever recorded measured 19 feet 2 inches (5.8 m) and was found on Marsh Island, Louisiana. Few of the giant specimens were weighed, but the larger ones could have exceeded a ton in weight. The Chinese alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 7 feet (2 m) in length. Speeds have been clocked by alligators of up to 27 mph, making one of the fastest large reptiles on the planet.

An alligator's lifespan is usually estimated in the range of 50 years or more. A specimen named Muja has resided in the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia since 1937, making it at least 71 years old. Another specimen, Čabulītis, in Riga Zoo, Latvia died in 2007 being more than 72 years old.

Habitat

Alligators are native to only two countries: the United States and China. In the Southeastern U.S., alligators are found in most freshwater and brackish areas. Also, Alligators have been known to clock speeds of up to 27 miles-per-hour.Fact: date=October 2008

Location

American alligators are found in the southeastern United States: all of Florida and Louisiana; the southern parts of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; coastal South and North Carolina; Eastern Texas and in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma and the southern tip of Arkansas. The majority of American alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana, with over a million alligators in each state. American alligators live in freshwater environments, such as ponds, marshes, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and swamps, as well as brackish environments.Fact: date=October 2008 Southern Florida is the only place where both alligators and crocodiles live side by side.