Scientific Name:
Alligator mississippiensis
Introduction to the Species: Basically describe your species in several sentences. Write as if you only had one paragraph to describe your species. The American alligator has survived extinction for over one hundred fifty million years. It is a reptile that prefers to live in calm waters. It hatches eggs on land and protects its young for a few years after they hatch. They can eat a wide variety of animals as they are tertiary consumers of their habitats. They are aggressive and pack a mean punch, their jaw can kill a deer in one bite. They have been known to attack humans but only a few people die as a result of their attacks.

Physical Description:
The formation of skin on their body are called osteoderms or scutes, embedded bony plates. They are a dark green and grey color and the scutes resemble a soldier’s armor. Their snout have two nostrils on both sides that face upward, to allow them to breathe while their body is submerged underwater. The American alligator has four short and stout legs, the front two feet have five toes and four toes on each of the back feet. Alligators have anywhere from seventy to eighty teeth in their mouth at one time, as teeth get warm out, they are replaced. …show more content…
Young American alligators can be identified by their tail and the yellow stripes that run along it. The adults have multiple dark stripes on their tail instead. Alligators are cold-blooded, and cannot regulate their own body temperature. They assume the temperatures of their environment that surrounds them. They sun bathe to warm their bodies, usually bask on the banks of water bodies. Males can grow anywhere from ten to fifteen feet in length and can weigh one thousand pounds. Females grow to ten feet while hatchlings are six to eight