American Alligator

American Alligator is one of two extant species of Alligators. Both males and females have bony backs made up of osteoderms. Osteoderms are plates of bones that many reptiles have, including some dinosaurs. One of the things that separate these animals from their cousins (The Crocodiles) is their wide, rounded snouts. They have dark stripes on their tail and use their muscular tail to propel themselves in the water. Often when you see an Alligator in the water you only see the snout and eyes out of the water. The rest is submerged underwater. American Alligators hold around 75 to 80 teeth in their mouth at a time. But they lose their teeth constantly and by the time they die they may have had 3,000 teeth. They have very strong jaws that help them catch food. American alligators eat many animals including fish, turtles, snails, birds, frogs, and large mammals when they are close to the water's edge. When Alligators catch large prey they will shake the catch to dismember it. They live for around 50 years in the wild. American Alligators are one of the few animals that have come back from being extremely endangered. Now there are millions of Alligators due to a ban on mass killings in the 1970s. American alligators live mostly in swaps, lakes, and marshes. Once one grows to be 4 ft in length they have no natural predators.

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