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American Alligator - Term Papers

American Alligator


Alligator mississippiensis is in the family Crocodylidae. This family has existed since the upper Triassic period, but the modern family members appear in the fossil record as little as 80 million years ago. There are three subfamilies, Alligatorinae, Crocodylinae, and Gavaialinae. Some people also include a fourth subfamily, Tomistominae, which contains a single species, the False Gharial. Alligatorinae includes the American and Chinese alligators and the caimans. Crocodylinae includes the crocodiles. Gavaialinae contains the gharials (or gavials). The alligators are unusually tolerant of cold and have been found frozen in ice at the most northern parts of their ranges (Beck).
All ...

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Alligators are important ecologically and are dependent on the spatial and temporal patterns of water fluctuations. Patterns of courtship, mating, nesting, and habitat use are all dependent on marsh water levels. Alligators are a great study organism to study the adaptations and responses to the seasonal changes to the hydrological conditions in the everglades. Alligators seem to be able to adjust the height of the nest egg cavity based on the spring water levels, which historically indicated the water levels later in the nesting season. Water levels also determine the availability of food therefore affecting the patterns of growth and survival. Alligators are most abundant in central sloughs, which is probably due to recommendations regarding managing hydrological conditions for alligators focused on maintaining alligators in central slough habitats (Mazzotti, 485).
The is one of the keystone species in the Florida everglades and other marsh systems. It is the only large, ...

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that the delayed breeding of alligators in South Carolina may be related more to social dominance than to growth rates. It is essential that age and size relations need to be understood better if alligators are to be managed effectively (Wilkinson, 397).
FOOD HABITS
All alligators, caimans, gavials, and crocodiles are carnivorous. In the wild, each depends upon a somewhat different selection of prey from its local fauna. For captive specimens, diet should vary with the size of the animal and the availability of prey. Small captives will do well on small animals (e.g.. goldfish, insects, or mice.) As the reptile grows, its diet should change from mice to rats to rabbits, chickens, and ...

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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 4/25/2005 07:52:10 AM
Category: Science & Nature
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1307
Pages: 5

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