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KINGDOM: ANIMAL
PHYLUM: CHORDATE
CLASS: REPTILIA
FAMILY: ALLIGATORIDAE
ORDER: CROCODILIA
GENUS: ALLIGATOR
SPECIES: AMERICAN ALLIGATOR
SUBSPECIES: NO SUBSPECIES
DESCRIPTION: Both males and females have an "armored" body with a muscular, flat tail. The skin on their back is armored with embedded bony plates called osteoderms or scutes. They have four short legs; the front legs have five toes while the back legs have only four toes.
SIZE AND WEIGHT: Females rarely exceed 9 feet in length and large females can weigh more than 200 pounds. Males rarely exceed 13 feet in length and large males can weigh well over 500 pounds.
LIFE SPAN: Both can live up to 70 years in the wild and can live longer in captivity.
MALE VS. FEMALE: Males are larger than females but females are known to be more aggressive when protecting eggs and young.
EVOLUTION: The american alligator has been around for more than 150 million years and avoided the extinction around 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs. They evolved from a group called Neosuchia which includes all of modern crocodilians and their closest ancestors.
CLOSEST RELATIVE: The closest living relative to the American Alligator in the Chinese Alligator. It is the only other alligator species but alligators and crocodiles are related.
ANCESTORS:
-Diplocynodon
-Leidyosuchus
-Deinosuchus
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