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An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae of 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.
The American alligator was first classified in 1801 by French zoologist François Marie Daudin as Crocodilus mississipiensis.In 1807, Georges Cuvier created the genus Alligator for it, [14] based on the English common name alligator (derived from Spanish word el lagarto, "the lizard").
An alligator nest at Everglades National Park, Florida, United States Spectacled caiman head Black caiman, Jauaperi River, Amazonia Head of smooth-fronted caiman. Family Alligatoridae. Subfamily Alligatorinae. Genus Alligator † Alligator hailensis † Alligator mcgrewi † Alligator mefferdi; Alligator mississippiensis, American alligator ...
Alligatorinae is cladistically defined as Alligator mississippiensis (the American alligator) and all species closer to it than to Caiman crocodylus (the spectacled caiman). [ 8 ] [ 9 ] This is a stem-based definition for Alligatorinae, and means that it includes more basal extinct alligator ancestors that are more closely related to living ...
Articles relating to the genus Alligator. 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.
This is a list of fatal alligator attacks in the United States in reverse chronological order by decade. All occurred in the South , where alligators are endemic to wetlands and tidal marshes . The state of Florida, where most attacks and deaths occur, began keeping records of alligator attacks in 1948.
An alligator nest at Everglades National Park, Florida, United States Alligator olseni forelimb Alligator prenasalis fossil. The superfamily Alligatoroidea is thought to have split from the crocodile-gharial lineage in the late Cretaceous, about 80 million years ago, but possibly as early as 100 million years ago based on molecular phylogenetics.
The Chinese alligator is found in slow-moving, turbid rivers that flow across China's floodplains. The highly adaptable American alligator is found in swamps, rivers and lakes with clear or turbid water. Crocodiles live in marshes, lakes and rivers, and can live in saline environments including estuaries and mangrove swamps. [115]