What is Alligator?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | name = ''Alligator'' | image = American Alligator.jpg|250px | image_caption = An American alligator in captivity at the [[Columbus Zoo]] | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | classis = [[Sauropsida]] | ordo = [[Crocodilia]] | familia = [[Alligatoridae]] | genus = '''''Alligator''''' | genus_authority = [[Francois-Marie Daudin|Daudin]], 1809 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = ''Alligator mississippiensis''<br> ''Alligator sinensis'' }} '''''Alligator''''' is a [[genus]] in the order [[Crocodilia]]. There are two living [[species]]: the [[American alligator]] and the smaller [[Chinese alligator]]. Together with the [[caiman]]s, the [[gharial]]s, and the [[crocodile]]s, they make up the order [[Crocodilia]]. The first alligators existed about [[Palaeocene|37 million years ago]].<ref name = PBDB>{{cite web |url=http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=38423 |title=Alligator Daudin 1809 (Alligator) |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=FossilWorks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database |publisher=Paleobiology Database / Macquarie University |access-date=2016-06-02 |archive-date=2016-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308214422/http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=38423 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, older species of alligators have become [[extinction|extinct]]. ==Description== An [[average]] adult [[American alligator]] weighs {{convert|360|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and is {{convert|4.0|m|ft|abbr=on}} long. However, they can grow to {{convert|4.4|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and weigh over {{convert|450|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite web | title = American Alligator and our National Parks | work = eparks.org | access-date = 2016-05-01 | url = http://www.eparks.org/marine_and_coastal/marine_wildlife/alligator.asp | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090346/http://www.eparks.org/marine_and_coastal/marine_wildlife/alligator.asp | archive-date = 2016-03-04 }}</ref> The largest alligator ever recorded, found in [[Louisiana]], was {