In May of 2006, Florida residents were shocked by not one but three fatal alligator attacks. While fatal attacks are out of the norm, non-fatal attacks, unfortunately, are not as rare. The fact is -- alligators can be dangerous. An alligator's brain weighs only eight or nine grams; it would take up only one-half of a tablespoon. This lack of brainpower means there is no such thing as a "nice alligator." If it's hungry, an alligator will eat anything that moves, including humans.
Danger and scariness aside, alligators are amazing animals. They've been around for millions of years, and they're about as close as we'll probably ever get to seeing a living dinosaur. So what is it about alligators that's allowed them to survive for so long? Let's find out.
The Basics
American alligators are reptiles. They are members of the Crocodylia order. In this order, there are 23 different species, including the American alligator, Caimans and a variety of crocodiles. The basic Crocodylia body form has been around for more than 180 million years, making alligators and crocodiles living dinosaurs. All of these animals have the same basic layout: big heads, long, lizard-like bodies, four stubby legs and long tails. Male alligators are, on average, about 11 feet long and weigh approximately 600 pounds. Females are, on average, about eight feet long and weigh about half as much as male alligators. Males can actually get much larger. A 1,000-pound alligator is not unusual. While there are reports of one alligator, held in captivity, that lived to be more than 100 years old, something like 40 years might be a more typical lifespan for alligators living in the wild.
Alligators are fresh-water animals and can be found in lakes, ponds, rivers and irrigation canals. Because they are cold-blooded reptiles, alligators are not big fans of cold weather. This limits their range to the warmer, wetter areas in the southeastern United States from Texas to North Carolina.
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Exhausting an Alligator
Since alligators are cold-blooded, they have very small lungs compared to mammals. This means that, when running, fighting or wrestling, alligators are using anaerobic respiration (without oxygen) to power their muscles. Mammals, by contrast, use aerobic respiration for most activities like walking or jogging. The only time humans use anaerobic respiration is when doing things like sprinting or lifting weights, which require energy to be produced faster than oxygen is available. A large alligator can exert itself for at the very most 30 minutes or so before it is completely exhausted. Then it will take several hours for it to recover. This means that one way to capture an alligator is to chase it until it collapses.
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