Alligators

Alex Re (00:01): Hello, welcome to On Wildlife. I'm your host, Alex Re. On this podcast, we bring the wild to you. We take you on a journey into the life of a different animal every week, and I guarantee you, you're going to come out of here knowing more about your favorite animal than you did before. This week's animal is a large reptile that you might be wary of if you're in a state like Florida or Georgia. These reptiles have been around for millions of years walking the earth with dinosaurs, so they've evolved some amazing adaptations that help them survive in the wild. So keep your distance because today we're talking about alligators.

(00:56): Alligators are in the order crocodile, along with crocodiles, Caymans, and garres. You might notice that all of these animals look kind of like dinosaurs, and it makes sense because alligators have been around for over 80 million years. That's pretty much the same time that the T-Rex started to appear, but unlike their dinosaur neighbors, they were able to survive the mass extinction event that was caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth 65 million years ago. And the very first ancestors of Crocodilians, which are all animals in the order crocodile, have been around for almost 250 million years. The word alligator is derived from the Spanish word el legato and its name means the lizard. Even though they're not lizards, they do look similar and they're both reptiles. There are only two living species of alligator. The American alligator whose scientific name is alligator Mississippi, and the Chinese alligator whose scientific name is alligator sinensis.

(02:01): The Chinese and American alligator split and became two different species around 33 million years ago. The split most likely happened because some alligators crossed from North America to Asia on a land bridge that used to connect the two continents. The ones that crossed evolved to become Chinese alligators and the ones that stayed evolved to become American alligators. Even though there are only two living alligator species, the fossil records shows that there have been many more species that are now extinct. The Dino Suas was the largest crocodilian to ever live. They could grow to be 39 feet long and weigh around 10 tons. They lived about 80 million years ago and were thought to prey on large dinosaur species. The Capra Sucus, whose name means Boor crocodile lived in Africa between a hundred million and 94 million years ago. Unlike modern alligators and crocodiles, their legs sat under their body rather than on the sides.

(03:03): This enabled them to run up to 25 miles per hour and made them especially good climbers. The boar part of their name comes from their large canine teeth that resemble ab boar's. Tusks. Alligators are only native to the United States, Mexico and China. They live in freshwater environments like lakes, marshes, rivers, and swamps in the us They're found in 10 states, mostly in the southeast, but they can be as far west as Texas. Interestingly, southern Florida is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles can be found in the same area. Chinese alligators are only found in the lower parts of the Y Sea River in eastern China, and because they rely on the outside environment to regulate their body temperature, they need to live in warmer areas. If they need to warm up, they'll leave the water until they're at an optimal body temperature.

(03:59): The average adult American alligator can grow to lengths of 13 feet with the largest individuals growing up to 14 or 15 feet long. There are also some unconfirmed reports of alligators reaching 19 feet in length. That's about as long as two cars. They also usually weigh between 400 and 800 pounds, but some of the largest gators can be over a thousand pounds. Chinese alligators are a lot smaller, only getting to around seven feet long, and just because these animals seem to stay very still doesn't mean they aren't fast. They can reach speeds of up to 20 miles per hour in the water and can get up to 35 miles per hour on land. They can only sustain that speed for short bursts though you might notice that alligators have large scales on their back. These are called SKUs and they're a great form of protection because they're extremely hard to penetrate.

(04:58): Now, something you might be asking yourself is what's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? I'll give you some ways to identify their differences. The first thing you can look at is their teeth. The upper teeth of alligators don't fit into any sockets, so when they close their mouths, the upper teeth stick out in crocodiles, both their upper and lower teeth stick out when they close their mouths. The next thing that you can look at is the shape of their snout. Alligator snouts are more U-shaped while crocodile snouts are more V-shaped. The reason why alligators have broader snouts is because it helps them crack open turtle shells. Looking at where they live can also help you differentiate the two. All crocodilians have salt glands on their tongues to help them get rid of salt, but alligators have lost the ability to get rid of it in large amounts. This is why you will pretty much only find alligators in fresh water, but crocodiles are able to live in either saltwater or freshwater. They also have some behavioral differences. For example, crocodiles are known to be more aggressive than alligators, and alligators grow larger than most species of crocodile, but the largest crocodilian is the saltwater crocodile. Now that you're an expert at identifying the difference between alligators and crocodiles, let's take a break, but don't go anywhere because when we get back, I'll talk about what alligators eat.

(06:37): This week I want to give a shout out to Nicole from New York. Her favorite animal is an armadillo. Did you know that armadillos can sleep for around 18 hours a day? If you want me to give you a shout out on the podcast, send an email to on wildlife dot podcast@gmail.com telling me your first name, where you're from and your favorite animal. Now, back to the episode.

(07:11): Alligators are opportunistic predators and the foods they eat change with their age and size. That being said, they're carnivores so they only eat other animals in their early years. Alligators eat small fish, insects, crustaceans and amphibians. Adult alligators will take on bigger prey like large fish. They also eat turtles and various mammals like the Koi P, which are large semi-aquatic rodents and the muskrat. They'll even go after deer. In some cases, larger alligators are known to ambush dogs, Florida panthers and black bears making them the apex predator in their habitat. Alligator stomachs contain something called gizzard stones. Gizzard stones are rocks that are consumed and lie in the digestive tract. These stones are used to grind up food that their body can't break down itself. You might remember me talking about gizzard stones from a few other episodes where I was covering birds because a lot of bird species use them too.

(08:16): In the grand scheme of things, alligators and birds are pretty closely related because they're both classified as OSAs. The American alligator mainly hunts at night and they almost always hunt in the water. Hunting at night helps them preserve energy because they're away from the heat of the sun. They also hunt in the water because they're much more agile and have more stamina than on land. The only time that alligators will attack on land is when they feel their territory is being threatened. You'll often see alligators waiting for their prey by sticking their eyes and snout just above the water with the rest of their bodies submerged. When their prey gets close, that's when they can snap their powerful jaws. If their prey is large, they may engage in a death roll where they'll clamp onto the animal and start twisting in the water. This eventually will tire their prey out and basically drown them.

(09:11): Alligators have an adapted structure in their throat called the galatis that can be shut when they're submerged so that they can bite their prey without inhaling a lot of water. Once an alligator clamps onto its prey, it's not easy to get out of that grasp. They have extremely strong muscles to close their jaws with a bite force of over 2000 pounds per square inch in order to have a lot of muscle mass for closing their jaw. They aren't able to open their jaws with a lot of force. The muscles to open their jaws are so weak that you can easily hold their mouth shut with one hand. Don't try that at home. They can also have up to 80 teeth in their mouths at a time, but all of that biting takes a toll on them. It's estimated that they lose around 2000 teeth in their lifetime.

(10:00): That's not really a problem though because they can be replaced with new teeth. If their prey is in a high place, for instance, hanging from a branch, alligators can actually use their tail to launch themselves out of the water and they can launch up to five feet in the air. But how do they figure out if there's prey nearby? Well, they have small sensory organs on their jaws called integumentary sense organs or ISOs for short. ISOs help them sense small changes in water pressure, which allows them to detect a fish swimming by without even seeing it. Alligators reach reproductive age somewhere between 10 and 12 years old. Once a female reaches six feet long, it's a pretty good indicator that she's reached maturity. The mating season is in late spring and alligators are polyandrous, which means that one male may meet with multiple females, but it's more common for them just to meet with one female each breeding season.

(11:00): In April and May, male alligators form groups referred to as bellowing choruses, large groups of males will bellow together a few times a day, usually one to three hours after sunrise. Watching an alligator bellow is really cool. They basically create a very low pitched sound and it also causes the water along their back to jump around because of the low frequencies they produce. These bellows can tell female alligators how big the male is. They can make a variety of different noises including a hiss, but the weird part of that is they don't have vocal cords. Instead, they make noise by drawing air into their bodies and then releasing it in the summer. The female builds a nest out of vegetation. As it decomposes, it releases heat, which warms and incubates the eggs. They lay around 40 eggs in a clutch and they're usually laid at night.

(11:57): Even though they spend most of their time in the water, alligator eggs can only survive on land, and there are a lot of animals that like to eat the eggs like raccoons, otters, and bears. Studies have found that the sex of the offspring can be determined by the temperature in the nest. This is called temperature dependent sex determination. Incubation temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius or lower produce a clutch of females. Those of 34 degrees Celsius or higher produce males, baby alligators have an egg tooth that they use to help them break out of the shell. When they're ready, the mother defends the nest from predators and helps the hatchlings to the water. She'll provide protection for the young for about a year. After two or three years, the juvenile alligators will leave the safety of their natal areas to find food or because larger gators have chased them out.

(12:53): Alligator mothers sometimes carry their young in their mouths or on their heads and snouts as a way to quickly and safely get the hatchlings from one point to another. Adult males will eat the babies if given the chance, and mothers will try their hardest to protect them, but don't always succeed in the wild. American alligators can live 30 to 50 years in captivity. Their average lifespan is 65 to 80 years. Muja who lives in the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia is the oldest recorded alligator in captivity. Muja is 85 years old having arrived at the zoo in 1937. Okay, we're going to take our last break, but when we get back, we'll talk about an alligator's social structure and their importance to the ecosystem. Time for our trivia question. What is a group of kittens called? The answer is a Kindle.

(14:19): Contrary to what you might think. Alligators are highly social animals that live in groups. A group of alligators is called a congregation. The alligator hatchlings are more social than the adults because they understand that there's safety in numbers. If alligators from other groups run into each other, the larger group may try to eat the smaller group. These are very territorial animals and humans are starting to encroach in their habitat. Because of this, there have been some alligator attacks on humans, but it's very rare, and it's not because humans are on their menu. It's because they're protecting their territory. The activity level of alligators changes depending on the season. They need to bask in the sun to stay warm and basking times may differ by season. In the spring, they bask more than they do in the summer because it could cause their bodies to overheat in the winter.

(15:14): Alligators bask whenever possible to stay warm. When it gets too cold for alligators, they'll get in the water and stick their noses above the surface before the water freezes over so they can breathe. This is known as snorkeling. They'll just float there not doing anything for hours or even days. They can also undergo a state of dormancy where they dig burrows that can be 65 feet long and they decrease their metabolism so they don't have to eat for months. These burrows are also used by other creatures after the alligators leave them. Alligators are so important to the ecosystems that they live in. They're considered a keystone species. As I just mentioned above, the holes that alligators create are used by all types of animals. They also increase plant diversity and can help during droughts. Alligators also control different animal populations like raccoons. Raccoons can be harmful to different bird species because they eat bird eggs, and if bird populations decrease, then insect populations will increase, which can cause a whole bunch of other issues.

(16:23): In Western Louisiana, large alligators feed on koi pu, which are invasive species that can destroy crops and also carry a lot of diseases. Alligators are also a great source of revenue for areas that have them because tourists will pay to see them in their natural habitat. Unfortunately, some populations of alligators are in trouble because of human interference. One of the main problems is habitat loss because wetland areas are decreasing, which is an important habitat for alligators. People also hunt alligators for their meat and use their skin to make CLO and accessories. Luckily, American alligators are listed as of least concern according to the I U C N red list. In the 1960s, the American alligator had almost gone extinct, but now their numbers are doing much better because we introduced laws that stopped people from killing them, but it's much worse for the Chinese alligator.

(17:22): The I U C N lists the Chinese alligator as critically endangered. There are fewer than 120 living Chinese alligators as of 2021, making them the most endangered crocodilian species. Their numbers have steadily decreased because of habitat fragmentation due to their habitat being converted to rice patties. Their sources of food and water have also been contaminated by pesticides and fertilizer, but we can save them by supporting organizations that help alligators. You should check out the Chinese Alligator Fund, the Wetlands Initiative and W C s China. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me as we explored the world of alligators. You can find the sources that we use for this podcast and links to organizations that we reference at onwildlife.org. You can also email us with any questions at On Wildlife dot podcast@gmail.com, and you can follow us on Instagram at On Wildlife or on TikTok at Wildlife. Don't forget to tune in next Wednesday for another awesome episode, and that's On Wildlife

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