The Facts--Alligators

• American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are members of the Crocodylia order, and are closely related to the large crocodiles of the Nile and Africa. American alligators live in the southern states of the U.S., and display many of the same characteristics and habits.
  
  

Features

• Alligators feature long snouts with up to 80 teeth, long lizard-like bodies, short legs and long powerful tails that propel them through the water. Their skin is thick, green, brown or black, and scaly. Alligators may grow to over 8 feet at maturity.
  
  

Youth

• Alligators mate and lay eggs in May to June. The female builds a nest onshore and lays 35 to 50 eggs, though some females lay as many as 90 eggs. These eggs incubate for 65 days, then hatch into 6-inch baby alligators. Baby alligators stay with their mother for a few years, depending on her for food and protection. The Smithsonian website states that young alligators grow about 1 foot a year.
  
  

Maturity

• According to the Smithsonian, alligators are sexually mature at 10 to 12 years of age, when they reach 6 feet in length. They are considered to be adults at six years, and safe from predators at 4 feet in length. They generally leave their mothers and become self-sufficient at 4 feet. Wild alligators live for up to 50 years.
  
  

Considerations

• Young alligators are extremely vulnerable to predators, due to their size. No mother alligator can watch all the babies all the time. According to the Smithsonian website, 80 percent of young alligators fall victim to birds, raccoons, larger alligators, bobcats, otters or snakes before they reach maturity.