Features of the “Gator” or the Alligators and its Differences with the Crocodile

Alligator or gator is a reptile mostly similar to the crocodiles. They both live in ground and water. As it looks quite similar to the crocodile, people often get confused between them. But those two are different in many characteristics and look. An alligator is black in color and has large and wide shape. On the other hand, a crocodile is grey-green color and have narrow and pointed snouts.

Features of the Gator

Some features of the alligators are discussed below-

1) Size

There are two types of an alligator. One is the American alligator, and another one is the Chinese alligator. The length of American alligator can be 11.2 feet long while the Chinese alligator grows up to 4 to 5 feet long.

2) Habitat

Alligators generally live in ponds, river, and swamp areas. American alligators live in Southern California where the Chinese alligators live in eastern China. However, most of the alligators are changing their habitat and converting their habitat to the agricultural land.

3) Habit

Alligators love to stay in gathering. As they don’t have any inner control system, they have to change their places to adjust the temperature. When they are cold, they go for sunbathing, and when they feel hot, they go swimming. Most of the time, they do it in a group. Alligator is a hunter reptile. They catch their hunt in the water. They can’t move fast in the ground, but they are very quick on the water. So, most of the time, they become successful in catching their prey on the water.

4) Food

The food habit of alligators depends on available foods. They are carnivores. So, most of the time, they eat fish, bird, and other small reptiles. However, along with fish and meat, they also love to eat fruits.

Differences Between Gators and Crocodiles

There are many differences between alligators and crocodiles. Some of the differences between them are discussed below:

• The shape of the snout of the crocodile is V-shaped, and alligator is U-shaped.
• Alligators are seen in the US and China, where the crocodiles are seen all around the world.
• Crocodiles usually prefer to live in the salty water where the alligators prefer to live in the freshwater.
• The teeth of the crocodiles are always wide open. They can’t hideout their teeth. But the teeth of alligators are often seen. Their teeth are not seen when their mouth is closed.
• The size of the crocodile is always larger than the alligator. Normally a full-grown crocodile becomes few feet longer than a full-grown alligator.
• In water, the alligator is faster and furious than the crocodile.

So, even if the crocodile and gators look like the same, they have quite a lot of differences in look and nature.