Alligator

Alligator, either of 2 species of aquatic, carnivorous, lizardlike reptiles (genus Alligator) belonging to the crocodile family. The American alligator (A. mississipiensis), which lives in the southeastern United States, generally reaches a length of 9 ft (2.7 m), but the rare Chinese alligator (A. sinensis) is much smaller. An adult American alligator is gray and dark green in color, weighs about 500 pounds, and lives to 50 or 60 years old. The females make excellent mothers and protect the newborn for over a year. Alligators like to eat fish, frogs, turtles, birds, and small mammals.