by Cynthia Andrews
The American Alligator versus the Crocodile
All alligators and crocodiles fall under the term crocodylians, which includes the Family Crocodylidae (“true” crocodiles) and the Family Alligatoridae (alligators and caimans). Alligators are dark-colored with a broad, rounded snout and are usually found in freshwater rivers, creeks, swamps, and marshes throughout the state. Crocodiles are grayish-green and prefer coastal, brackish, and salt-water habitats. They have a narrow, tapered, triangular snout. The term “crocodile” refers only to the "true" crocodile, which is much larger than an alligator and displays a huge canine tooth outside its jaws. In Charleston, alligators are often seen sunning themselves on the banks of the surrounding Cooper, Wappo, Stono, and Ashley Rivers. Male alligators can weigh as much as a thousand pounds and grow as long as 15 feet. They feed on fish, turtles, snakes, snails, frogs, birds, and small mammals. When the baby reptiles hatch out of their eggs they are about 6 inches long with black and yellow stripes.
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Did you know?
1- American Alligators have "armored" bodies"! Strong bony plates called scutes are located under their skin.
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2- Their nostrils are located at the end of their rounded snout and face upward so they can breathe while swimming underwater.
3- Their enormous jaw contains 74 and 80 teeth. They use their sharp teeth to grab and hold their prey. When their teeth wear down, the alligator can grow new teeth. They can grow as many as 3,000 teeth in a lifetime.
4- American alligators live about 50 years in the wild.
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5- When the weather gets too hot or too cold Alligators conserve their energy by digging a gator hole in the mud to chill out for a while. Many other animals like to live in their mud hole after they move out!
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6- After mating has taken place, the female builds a large nest of twigs and grasses up to ten feet in size. In early summer, she will lay between 35 and 50 eggs in the nest. The daily temperatures will determine if the eggs hatch into female or male juveniles. By the end of summer, the young alligators begin to make high-pitched noises, letting Mom know that they are ready to come out!
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7-Baby alligators are born with a tooth on their nose called an eye tooth. This tooth is sharp enough to break through its shell when they hatch. They are born with almost 80 little baby teeth in the mouth!
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7- Despite their mother's expert ability to defend her nest, most of the new hatchlings will be eaten by birds, raccoons, bobcats, otters, snakes, large bass, and larger alligators. Crocodilians are one of the only orders of reptiles that offer maternal care to their young. The surviving juveniles will grow about a foot a year.
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Read more:
Alligators
www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Reptiles/American-Alligator
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/american-alligator
https://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/alligator/index.html
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