Alligator

An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae in the order Crocodilia. The two extant species are the American alligator and the Chinese alligator. Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the late Eocene epoch about 37 million years ago.

Alligator

C. J. Cornish et al · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
alligatorPBDB
Sits inside
AlligatorinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 45 million years on record.

The record covers at least 45.9 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 51.1 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 17 of 123 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 5 of 123 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 34 of 123 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 6 of 123 occurrencesPleistocene — about 37 of 123 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences50–49 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences47–45 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences43–42 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 1 occurrence38–36 Mya — about 3 occurrences36–35 Mya — about 6 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 3 occurrences33–31 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences30–28 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences26–24 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 1 occurrence23–21 Mya — about 1 occurrence21–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–17 Mya — about 4 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 5 occurrences16–14 Mya — about 4 occurrences14–12 Mya — about 4 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 5 occurrences10–8.7 Mya — about 4 occurrences8.7–7.0 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.0–5.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.2–3.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.5–1.7 Mya — about 7 occurrences1.7–0 Mya — about 57 occurrences45.9 Mya11.7 ka52 Mya0 Mya

123 occurrences of Alligator on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

123 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

28 formations

Chadron — 43.60°N, 102.45°WChadron — 43.68°N, 102.82°WChadron — 43.75°N, 102.77°WChadron — 43.78°N, 102.70°WChadron — 43.78°N, 102.55°WChadron — 42.78°N, 103.57°WFleming — 31.00°N, 93.40°WFleming — 30.50°N, 95.00°WFleming — 30.68°N, 95.05°WFleming — 30.61°N, 95.13°WFleming — 30.75°N, 95.27°WFleming — 30.59°N, 94.91°WGoliad — 28.60°N, 97.70°WGoliad — 28.53°N, 97.74°WGoliad — 28.34°N, 97.96°WAlachua — 29.10°N, 82.30°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.70°N, 82.60°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WTamiami — 27.37°N, 82.45°WTamiami — 27.78°N, 82.68°WMessel — 49.93°N, 8.73°EMessel — 49.93°N, 8.75°EShanwang — 32.14°N, 118.70°EShanwang — 36.52°N, 118.54°ESilver Bluff — 32.56°N, 80.29°WRunningwater — 42.75°N, 102.02°WTorreya — 30.61°N, 84.25°WTorreya — 30.50°N, 84.50°WTsubusagawa — 33.38°N, 131.28°EOlcott — 42.40°N, 103.80°WHeadon Hill — 50.72°N, 1.59°WHeadon Beds — 50.72°N, 1.59°W"Brian Head" — 37.80°N, 111.50°WFort Thompson — 27.80°N, 82.80°WAsh Hollow — 42.70°N, 100.87°WWicomico — 29.42°N, 82.22°WSlim Buttes — 45.62°N, 103.93°WShuler — 32.71°N, 96.71°WPeace River — 27.50°N, 82.50°WOgallala — 35.77°N, 99.84°WEastover — 38.16°N, 76.83°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Alligator has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 65 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Alligator and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Alligator and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,639 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 116 sites for Alligator, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

77 references

Each of the 123 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 65 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Alligator

Credit
C. J. Cornish et al
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Alligator mississippiensis · ouvc:9761

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAlligatorinae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Daudin 1809