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Alligator

File:Chinese+american_alligators.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Alligator

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Also known as alligators, gator, gators

An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae in the order Crocodilia. The two extant species are the American alligator (A. mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (A. sinensis). Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the late Eocene epoch about 37 million years ago.

OverviewAI-generated

Alligator is a genus of reptiles within the family Alligatoridae and the class Crocodylia. The taxon was described by Cuvier in 1807 and belongs to the parent taxon Alligatorinae. It is an accepted genus that has existed since about 37 million years ago. The habitat for this group includes brackish and freshwater environments.

The genus is the source of alligator meat. It is distinct from crocodiles and motorcycles. Records of Alligator are held by institutions including CM, USNM, FHSM, UCMP, and UF, primarily in the United States. There are 87,653 occurrence records and 5,955 specimen records, with 197 associated media items. The subject is referenced by 1,083 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 35 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Gbif Occ, iDigBio, WoRMS, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Alligator

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassCrocodylia
  4. FamilyAlligatoridae
Habitatbrackish, freshwater
Observations recorded87,653

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
5,955
With media
197
Family
Alligatoridae
Collections
CM, USNM, FHSM, UCMP, UF, ROM
Recorded in
United States
iDigBio →

~19 min read

Encyclopedic overview

17 sections
Contents
  • Evolution
  • Phylogeny
  • Species
  • Extant
  • Extinct
  • Description
  • Habitat
  • Behavior
  • Diet
  • Reproduction
  • Anatomy
  • Human uses
  • Differences from crocodiles
  • Image gallery of extant species
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae in the order Crocodilia. The two extant species are the American alligator (A. mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (A. sinensis). Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the late Eocene epoch about 37 million years ago.

The term "alligator" is likely an anglicized form of '', Spanish for "the lizard", which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. Early English spellings of the name included allagarta and alagarto''.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alligator” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (27)

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