Saturday, January 14, 2023
- Where do most alligators live in the us
- Where do most alligators live in the us
Most American alligators eat a wide variety of animals, including invertebrates , fish , birds , turtles , snakes , amphibians , and mammals. Hatchlings mostly feed on invertebrates such as insects, insect larvae , snails , spiders , and worms. As they grow, American alligators gradually expand to larger prey. Once an American alligator reaches full size and power in adulthood, any animal living in the water or coming to the water to drink is potential prey.
Most animals captured by American alligators are considerably smaller than itself. Other animals may occasionally be eaten, even large deer or feral wild boars , but these are not normally part of the diet. American alligators occasionally prey on large mammals, such as deer, but usually do so when fish and smaller prey levels go down.
Such incidents usually involve a panther trying to cross a waterway or coming down to a swamp or river to get a drink. Occasionally, domestic animals, including dogs , cats , and calves , are taken as available, but are secondary to wild and feral prey. Water birds , such as herons and egrets , storks , waterfowl and large dabbling rails such as gallinules or coots , are taken when possible. Occasionally, unwary adult birds are grabbed and eaten by American alligators, but most predation on bird species occurs with unsteady fledgling birds in late summer, as fledgling birds attempt to make their first flights near the water's edge.
In , American alligators and other crocodilians were reported to also eat fruit. The discovery of this unexpected part of the American alligator diet further reveals that they may be responsible for spreading seeds from the fruit they consume across their habitat. The diet of adult American alligators from central Florida lakes is dominated by fish, but the species is highly opportunistically based upon local availability.
Unusually in these regions, reptiles and amphibians were the most important nonpiscivore prey, mostly turtles and water snakes. In East Texas , diets were diverse and adult American alligators took mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates e. An American alligator is able to abduct and adduct the vocal folds of its larynx , but not to elongate or shorten them; yet in spite of this, it can modulate fundamental frequency very well.
Sounds ranged from 50 to Hz. In one experiment conducted on the larynx, the fundamental frequency depended on both the glottal gap and stiffness of the larynx tissues. As the frequency increases, there's high tension and large strains. The fundamental frequency has been influenced by the glottal gap size and subglottal pressure and when the phonation threshold pressure has been exceeded, there will be vocal fold vibration. Crocodilians are the most vocal of all non-avian reptiles and have a variety of different calls depending on the age, size, and sex of the animal.
Juveniles can perform a high-pitched hatchling call a "yelping" trait common to many crocodilian species' hatchling young [] to alert their mothers when they are ready to emerge from the nest.
Juveniles also make a distress call to alert their mothers if they are being threatened. Adult American alligators can growl, hiss, or cough to threaten others and declare territory. Both males and females bellow loudly by sucking air into their lungs and blowing it out in intermittent, deep-toned roars to attract mates and declare territory. Bellowing is performed in a "head oblique, tail arched" posture. Infrasonic waves from a bellowing male can cause the surface of the water directly over and to either side of his back to literally "sprinkle", [] in what is commonly called the "water dance".
The breeding season begins in the spring. On spring nights, American alligators gather in large numbers for group courtship, in the aforementioned "water dances". After the female lays her 20 to 50 white eggs, about the size of a goose egg, she covers them with more vegetation, which heats as it decays, helping to keep the eggs warm. This differs from Nile crocodiles, which lay their eggs in pits. Studies have found that eggs hatched at a temperature below When the young begin to hatch — their "yelping" calls can sometimes even be heard just before hatching commences — the mother quickly digs them out and carries them to the water in her mouth, [25] as some other crocodilian species are known to do.
The young are tiny replicas of adults, with a series of yellow bands around their bodies that serve as camouflage. Young American alligators eat small fish, frogs, crayfish, and insects. Nutria were introduced into coastal marshes from South America in the midth century, and their population has since exploded into the millions. They cause serious damage to coastal marshes and may dig burrows in levees. Hence, Louisiana has had a bounty to try to reduce nutria numbers.
Large American alligators feed heavily on nutria, so American alligators may not only control nutria populations in Louisiana, but also prevent them spreading east into the Everglades. Since hunting and trapping preferentially take the large American alligators that are the most important in eating nutria, some changes in harvesting may be needed to capitalize on their ability to control nutria. Recently, a population of Burmese pythons became established in Everglades National Park. Substantial American alligator populations in the Everglades may be a contributing factor in keeping the python populations low, preventing the spread of the species north.
While events of predation by Burmese pythons on young American alligators have been observed, no evidence of a net negative effect has been seen on overall American alligator populations. American alligators play an important role in the restoration of the Everglades as biological indicators of restoration success. American alligators also may control the long-term vegetation dynamics in wetlands by reducing the population of small mammals, particularly coypu, which may otherwise overgraze marsh vegetation.
American alligators prevent predatory mammals from reaching island-based rookeries and in return eat spilled food and birds that fall from their nests. Wading birds appear to be attracted to areas with American alligators and have been known to nest at heavily trafficked tourist attractions with large numbers of American alligators, such as the St.
Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida. American alligators are capable of killing humans, but fatal attacks are fairly rare. Mistaken identity leading to an attack is always possible, especially in or near cloudy waters.
American alligators are often less aggressive towards humans than larger crocodile species, a few of which mainly the Nile and saltwater crocodiles may prey on humans with some regularity.
Even with medical treatment, an American alligator bite may still result in a fatal infection. As human populations increase, and as they build houses in low-lying areas, or fish or hunt near water, incidents are inevitable where humans intrude on American alligators and their habitats. Since , documented attacks on humans in Florida about five incidents per year have been reported, of which an estimated 23 resulted in death.
In May , American alligators killed three Floridians in less than a week. Since the late s, alligator wrestling has been a source of entertainment for some. Created by the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes prior to the arrival of Europeans, this tourism tradition continues to persist despite criticism from animal-rights activists. Today, alligator farming is a large, growing industry in Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana.
These states produce a combined annual total of some 45, alligator hides. The American alligator is the official state reptile of Florida, [] Louisiana, [] and Mississippi. In , a printer made a spur-of-the-moment decision to print an alligator emblem on a shipment of the school's football pennants.
The Gator Bowl is a college football game held in Jacksonville annually since , with Gator Bowl Stadium hosting the event until the edition. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Large crocodilian reptile.
Not to be confused with the American crocodile. Conservation status. Daudin , Alligator bellow. Another alligator bellow. Alligator hiss. Problems playing these files? See media help. Main article: List of fatal alligator attacks in the United States. Main article: Alligator wrestling. Main article: Alligator farm. September 6, PMC PMID Retrieved January 14, Philadelphia Zoo. June 16, Retrieved April 24, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.
Retrieved August 14, The National Zoo. Retrieved December 30, Herp highlight 1: American alligator. American Zoology. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. S2CID Archived from the original PDF on December 31, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir. JSTOR June 1, Journal of Herpetology. ISSN Molecular Biology and Evolution. Black caiman Melanosuchus niger. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, 29— Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Checkmark Books. ISBN Retrieved October 14, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. A, Comparative Physiology. Retrieved March 15, Retrieved on June 26, McIlhenny The Alligator's Life History.
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Sterling Pub Co. Neill The Last of the Ruling Reptiles. Columbia University Press.
August 2, May 31, Fox News. October 16, Glad You Asked". The New York Times. September 27, Journal of Hepatology. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. American Zoologist. Southeastern Naturalist. Australian Journal of Zoology. Journal of Zoology. US National Park Service. NBC News. May 11, Retrieved August 15, Kristopher; Vliet, Kent A.
March Bibcode : PLoSO The ontogeny of bite-force performance in American alligator Alligator mississippiensis. The Journal of Experimental Biology. Archived from the original PDF on October 21, Bibcode : Sci Journal of Experimental Biology. Retrieved May 12, Retrieved March 16, Retrieved August 2, Grand View Outdoors.
Fish and Wildlife Service. February Retrieved September 3, Retrieved December 17, Savannah River Ecology Lab. Retrieved August 16, Retrieved August 26, The Guardian. March 12, Retrieved January 20, The Independent. November 12, Archived from the original on November 13, Experimental Gerontology. Herpetology Notes. Retrieved on August 21, Ethology, Ecology and Evolution.
December 4, Retrieved December 8, Herpetological Bulletin. Archived from the original PDF on October 15, National Geographic. The Journal of Wildlife Management.
Gough, J. Nyman, T. McFalls, J. Carter and J. Siegrist Alligator hunters, pelt traders, and runaway consumption of Gulf coast marshes: A trophic cascade perspective on coastal wetland losses. Archived November 3, , at the Wayback Machine pp. Silliman, E. Grosholz, and M. Bertness eds. Human Impacts on Salt Marshes. A Global Perspective.
Cannibalism in the American alligator. News Daily. Archived from the original on March 18, Retrieved February 28, November 7, Retrieved November 7, This allows them to capture prey completely submerged in water. Alligators have a variety of means of locomotion. They can swim, walk, run, and even crawl. Unlike most reptiles, alligators walk with their legs directly beneath them, as opposed to diagonal. This allows them to lift their tails off of the ground while they move.
As a cold-blooded reptile, alligators undergo dormancy when the weather becomes cold. They are known to dig tunnels 65 feet 20 meters long to protect themselves from extreme heat and cold. American alligators usually start reproducing at 10 to 12 years old. They breed in shallow water, and after mating, the female begins building a nest out of nearby vegetation.
A female can lay up to 90 eggs in her nest, which she then covers with more vegetation. Eggs hatch are incubating for roughly 65 days. Many young alligators are eaten by predators such as birds, snakes, fish, and mammals, but are usually safe after they reach four feet 1. These alligators can live to be 50 years old. American alligators were once threatened by extinction, but after being placed on the endangered species list in , their population increased. This species is now classified as least concern.
The main threat to these reptiles today is habitat loss caused by wetland drainage and development. The American alligator is an important keystone species of the Southeast. Alligators use their tails to dig burrows in mud for nesting and to keep warm. When an alligator abandons a burrow, the hole left behind fills with freshwater and is utilized by other species for breeding and drinking.
If alligators are removed from their native ecosystem, it would affect countless other species. An alligator can go through 3, teeth in a lifetime. A groundbreaking bipartisan bill aims to address the looming wildlife crisis before it's too late, while creating sorely needed jobs. More than one-third of U. We're on the ground in seven regions across the country, collaborating with 52 state and territory affiliates to reverse the crisis and ensure wildlife thrive.
Uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. Inspire a lifelong connection with wildlife and wild places through our children's publications, products, and activities. In 4 seconds , you will be redirected to nwfactionfund. The National Wildlife Federation. American Alligator.
American Alligator Alligator mississippiensis Status: Threatened. Classification: Reptile. Description American alligators are large crocodilians found only in the United States. Range American alligators can be found in the coastal wetlands of the U.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment