Like other crocodilians, alligators have an armor of bony scutes. The dermal bones are highly vascularised and aid in calcium balance, both to neutralize acids while the animal cannot breathe underwater [54] and to provide calcium for eggshell formation. [55] Farmer, C. G.; Sanders, K. (January 2010). "Unidirectional Airflow in the Lungs of Alligators". Science. 327 (5963): 338–340. Bibcode: 2010Sci...327..338F. doi: 10.1126/science.1180219. PMID 20075253. S2CID 206522844. Most of the muscle in an alligator's jaw evolved to bite and grip prey. The muscles that close the jaws are powerful, but the muscles for opening their jaws are weak. As a result, an adult human can hold an alligator's jaws shut bare-handed. It is common to use several wraps of duct tape to prevent an adult alligator from opening its jaws when being handled or transported. [32]

Tang, Ke-Yi; Wang, Zhen-Wei; Wan, Qiu-Hong; Fang, Sheng-Guo (2019). "Metagenomics Reveals Seasonal Functional Adaptation of the Gut Microbiome to Host Feeding and Fasting in the Chinese Alligator". Frontiers in Microbiology. 10: 2409. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02409. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 6824212. PMID 31708889. Wednesday, 25 April 2012 Anna SallehABC (2012-04-25). "Antacid armour key to tetrapod survival". www.abc.net.au . Retrieved 2020-07-26. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link) Functioning salt glands: Crocodilians have modified salivary glands called salt glands on their tongues, but while these organs still excrete salt in crocodiles and gharials, those in most alligators and caimans have lost this ability, or excrete it in only extremely small quantities. [60] The ability to excrete excess salt allows crocodiles to better tolerate life in saline water and migrating through it. [60] Because alligators and caimans have lost this ability, they are largely restricted to freshwater habitats, although larger alligators do sometimes live in tidal mangroves and in very rare cases in coastal areas. [60] An average adult American alligator's weight and length is 360kg (790lb) and 4m (13ft), but they sometimes grow to 4.4m (14ft) long and weigh over 450kg (990lb). [10] The largest ever recorded, found in Louisiana, measured 5.84m (19.2ft). [11] The Chinese alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 2.1m (7ft) in length. Additionally, it weighs considerably less, with males rarely over 45kg (100lb). Alligator Leap. Zooguy2. 2007-09-20. Archived from the original on 2021-07-10 . Retrieved 2021-09-07– via YouTube.a b Brochu, C.A. (1999). "Phylogenetics, taxonomy, and historical biogeography of Alligatoroidea". Memoir (Society of Vertebrate Paleontology). 6: 9–100. doi: 10.2307/3889340. JSTOR 3889340. Findsen, Anders; Crossley, Dane A.; Wang, Tobias (2018-01-01). "Feeding alters blood flow patterns in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology. 215: 1–5. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2017.09.001. ISSN 1095-6433. PMID 28958765.

Bondavalli, C., and R. E. Ulanowicz. 1998. Unexpected effects of predators upon their prey: The case of the American alligator. Ecosystems 2: 49–63. a b "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved 2018-10-25. Delany, Michael F; Woodward, Allan R; Kiltie, Richard A; Moore, Clinton T (20 May 2011). "Mortality of American Alligators Attributed to Cannibalism". Herpetologica. 67 (2): 174–185. doi: 10.1655/herpetologica-d-10-00040.1. S2CID 85198798.Although the alligator has a heavy body and a slow metabolism, it is capable of short bursts of speed, especially in very short lunges. Alligators' main prey are smaller animals they can kill and eat with a single bite. They may kill larger prey by grabbing it and dragging it into the water to drown. Alligators consume food that cannot be eaten in one bite by allowing it to rot or by biting and then performing a "death roll", spinning or convulsing wildly until bite-sized chunks are torn off. Critical to the alligator's ability to initiate a death roll, the tail must flex to a significant angle relative to its body. An alligator with an immobilized tail cannot perform a death roll. [31]

Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Chapter 4. Muja the alligator still alive and snapping in his 80s at Belgrade Zoo". Reuters. 15 August 2018 . Retrieved 17 July 2020. Kaku, Michio (March 2011). Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny And Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. Doubleday. pp.150, 151. ISBN 978-0-385-53080-4.Alligators generally mature at a length of 1.8m (6ft). The mating season is in late spring. In April and May, alligators form so-called "bellowing choruses". Large groups of animals bellow together for a few minutes a few times a day, usually one to three hours after sunrise. The bellows of male American alligators are accompanied by powerful blasts of infrasound. [37] Another form of male display is a loud head-slap. [38] In 2010, on spring nights alligators were found to gather in large numbers for group courtship, the so-called "alligator dances". [39] Crocodilian Captive Care FAQ (Caiman, Alligator, Crocodile)". crocodilian.com . Retrieved 2023-02-10. Brochu, C. A. (2011). "Phylogenetic relationships of Necrosuchus ionensis Simpson, 1937 and the early history of caimanines". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 163: S228–S256. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00716.x.

Hitler's Alligator - The Last German Prisoner of War in Russia. Mark Felton Productions. 2020-07-16. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14 . Retrieved 2021-09-07– via YouTube.

Main articles: Alligator farm, Alligator meat, and Alligator leather Edward H. Mitchell, "The Joy Ride" at the California Alligator Farm, Los Angeles, California, c. 1910s Alligator mississippiensis". alligatorfur.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05 . Retrieved 2016-05-01. Craighead, F. C., Sr. (1968). The role of the alligator in shaping plant communities and maintaining wildlife in the southern Everglades. The Florida Naturalist, 41, 2–7, 69–74.