Smallest Alligator Species

Description

• The Chinese alligator can reach lengths of about 4.5 to 7 feet and weigh about 80 to 90 lbs. as an adult. Males grow larger than females. These alligators have dark olive with light olive to yellow patches of skin. In younger animals, you can see stripes of yellow that wrap around the body and tail.

Diet

• Like other alligators and crocodiles, these are strict carnivores. The teeth of the Chinese alligator has adapted to crushing and eating the thick-shelled mollusks and snails that constitute much of their diet. However, they will eat any animal they can catch ranging from fish and turtles to land mammals such as rodents, birds and bird eggs.

Habitat

• Chinese alligators inhabit wetlands, swamps, ponds and other freshwater ways. These alligators prefer slow-moving waters, according to Florida Museum of Natural History. They may also move more inland near agricultural areas. They will hibernate at least half of the year in burrows.

Breeding

• Breeding seasons starts with the end of hibernation in the early summer months. They are sexually mature at about 5 to 7 years old. Females construct nests from loose leaves, twigs and other plant matter mixed with mud and incubate their 10 to 50 eggs for about 2.5 months. The gender of the babies is determined by the incubation temperature. Temperatures below 82 degrees Fahrenheit will produce only females, while temperatures above 91 degrees produce only males, reports the Animal Diversity Web.

Range and Conservation

• Historically native to much of China, their wild population has been on the decline and they now have a very limited range surrounding the Yangtze River located on the central Eastern coast of China. Human encroachment has destroyed much of their historical habitat. Farmers often kill the Chinese alligators to protect livestock and then sell the meat and organs at local markets. In the Anhui province, which has a Chinese alligator preserve, only about 150 specimens have been reported in the wild reports the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Another 156 were known to live in zoos throughout the world in 2005.