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American Alligator
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- Order: Crocodylia (alligators and crocodiles)
- Family: Alligatoridae (alligators and
caiman)
- Genus: Alligator (alligators)
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Also known as: gator |
Scientific Name: Alligator
mississippiensis (Daudin, 1803) |
Habitat: swamps,
drainage ditches, wetlands. |
el legarto=Spanish for "the
lizard," mississippiensis="of/from
Mississippi"
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Length: to over 19 feet
total. |
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Food: About anything
it can overpower and swallow! |
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This is one of only a few alligators I actually
saw in Audubon
Swamp Garden. The water was covered in floating
vegetation, making it difficult to see ANYTHING! There are
several manmade "haul-outs" for the gators to use for
basking, and the gators I saw were near these devices.
Notice the bird keeping close watch on the gator! |
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See also my alligator observed
in Florida. |
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