American Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
🇺🇲🐊
Chordata
Reptilia
Crocodilia
Alligatoroidea
Alligatoridae
Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
The American Alligator — A Living Relic of the Age of Reptiles, the American Alligator is a powerful apex predator inhabiting the wetlands of the southeastern United States. Though once hunted nearly to extinction for its hide, it has made a remarkable recovery and now thrives in many protected habitats.
Description
American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) — The American Alligator is one of the few remaining large reptiles from a lineage that dates back over 37 million years. It inhabits freshwater environments such as swamps, marshes, rivers, and lakes across the southeastern U.S., especially in Florida and Louisiana.
Adult males average 3.4–4.6 meters in length and weigh 360–450 kg, with some reaching over 4.8 meters. Females are smaller, averaging 2.6–3 meters and 90–200 kg. The species has a broad snout, armored hide, and a strong tail that aids both in swimming and defense.
Despite being an ancient species, the American Alligator is a conservation success story — once listed as endangered in the 1960s due to overhunting and habitat loss, it has since recovered under strict protection laws and is now classified as “Least Concern.”
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
1000
0.5
0.75
4
kg
m
m
m
Piscivore
Piscivores
Hunt History
Hunted opportunistically; tail fat valued.
Archaic Period (ca. 5000–3000 BCE): Alligator bones found at the Horr’s Island site in Florida show evidence of human butchering.
Woodland Period (ca. 1000 BCE–1000 CE): Remains at the Kolomoki Mounds (Georgia) indicate alligator meat and hide use by indigenous peoples.
Mississippian Period (ca. 1200–1500 CE): Excavations at Moundville, Alabama, include alligator teeth and bone tools, suggesting continued exploitation.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Extant
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
0
BP
Late Pleistocene
North America
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
High
Fat %
10
Est. Renderable Fat
100
kg
Targeted Organs
Tail fat
Adipose Depots
Tail fat depot, visceral
Preferred Cuts
Tail base
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
5