Exotic Animals: Alligators

Alligators are the most dangerous of the exotic pets. It is a crocodilian, which comes from the family of Alligatoridae. The name was derived from Anglicization of a Spanish word, which was used by Spanish explorers who were settled in Florida, United States. Alligators are found mostly in America and China.

There are two species of alligators, Alligator Mississippienis or the American Alligator and Alligator Sinensis or the Chinese Alligator. The American alligator weights around eight hundred pounds and is thirteen feet long. The record for the longest alligator is of nineteen feet two inches, from Louisiana. Comparatively, the Chinese alligators are smaller in length and measure not more than seven feet in length. Alligators live for more than fifty years. The oldest living alligator was of seventy years, at the Belgrade Zoo, Serbia.

There are many features of alligators that distinguish them from crocodiles and both of them belong to different taxonomic families. Alligators have a broader snout and their eyes are located near the upper side. When light is flashed over the eyes, bigger alligators have a red glow and smaller alligators have a green glow. This can be of help, when searching for alligators in dark. When looking in daylight, it is also observed that alligators have brown eyes and crocodiles have green eyes.

When alligators close their jaws, only the upper teeth are visible where as in crocodiles, the upper as well as the lower teeth are visible when they close their jaws. The shape of an alligators mouth is like a U and that of the crocodile is like a V. Although both the animals have a darker hide, almost black, the color depends on their habitats. The Chinese alligators have a light pattern, alligators living in algae growing water are greenish black and waters with high tannic acid released from hanging trees have a darker hide.

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