Alligator Fact Sheet

Photo by Dickson Images

-The name “alligator” is derived form the Spanish el lagarto, “the lizard”. However, alligators are not lizards and actually are more closely related to birds than to lizards. They are one of about 25 living species of the order Crocodilia.


-The first crocodilians evolved during the late Triassic period (about 220 million years ago) and shared an ancestor with the dinosaurs. They have changed little over the eons.


-Alligators are fresh-water animals although they can live for some time in brackish water.


-The alligator is the largest reptile in North American. Adult males may grow to be 12-14 feet long. There are unconfirmed reports of lengths over 19 feet. Females rarely exceed 10 feet in length.  A twelve-foot long alligator will weigh around 500 pounds.


-Baby alligators eat anything that they can catch smaller than they are. Adults eat fish, frogs, turtles, birds, small mammals, and occasionally – baby alligators. They will also eat dead animals when they find them.


Photo by Cheryl Schirtzinger

-Alligators are cold-blooded, so their activity level and behaviors are dependent on the air and water temperature. In winter, they Brumate (equivalent to hibernation in mammals) in dens, but may emerge during spells of warmer weather.


-In the spring and fall (the best times to view alligators in the refuges), they spend time lying on the banks soaking up the sun to raise their body temperature. When they get too warm, they retreat into the cooler water. They are most active when the air temperature is between 82° and 92°F.


-A female alligator lays a clutch of 20-50 eggs in the early summer in a mound of vegetation and mud that she constructs. The mother guards the nest until the eggs hatch in about 65 days. She then transports the hatchlings to water and continues to watch over then for a year or longer. A group of baby alligators is called a pod.


-The American alligator is a member of the family Crocodylidae, the family that contains all the worlds species of alligators, crocodiles, caimans, and gharials. There is only one other alligator species in the world, the Chinese alligator. The only other member of this family that lives in the United States is the endangered American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) found only at the southern tip of Florida.


-Alligators have broader heads than crocodiles and only their upper teeth can be seen when their mouths are closed. There are no crocodiles in our refuges.


-The American alligator is a federally protected species, but state-approved management and control programs are allowed.