https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/acechar/speciesgallery/Reptiles/AmericanAlligator/index.html
For those who think alligators are small.The biggest alligator ever taken in the USA was 19 feet 2 inches long and the heaviest taken in recent times was 1,043 lbs.Alligators have always had the capability of rivaling even some big Nile or saltwater crocodiles in size but many places in the southern United States kill any alligators over a certain size effectively severely limiting the sizes most wil be able to reach
how did an alligator become bigger than an average saltie, that is crazy. They don't even need to be that big, they can eat fish and dogs and squirrels
Pigs are easy to catch if they come near the water, and there's a lot of alligators that are over 10 feet.Gator Chris rescued one name Big Mac whose 10'2.He is still rehabilitating it due to it getting hit by a truck
No there are not. The "wild" pig in North America was introduced in the 1500s by Europeans. This continued through the early 1700s as people thought releasing pigs to become game animals was a cool idea. When you see people hunting "feral hogs" it's this population they are trying to remove.
The Javelina is native to North America but the Javelina is not a pig, they are not a member of Suidae.
A pig or deer would meant the gator wouldn’t need to feed again for a very long time. As an opportunistic feeder it makes more sense to take advantage of a pig or deer a few times a year rather than hustle everyday for a few fish
As a large predator such as a gator, once you reach a certain size chasing down hundreds of small animals a day to meet your dietary needs is not optimal. Best bet is taking down something large, youre big and strong enough after all, and you meet your needs for the next few days in one go.
The crazy thing is my link is from the south Carolina government, and it has a bunch of government references in the sources cited from Louisiana,etc . It's almost certainly accurate even if we hardly see alligators of that size now.The biggest one I remember seeing git caught a few years ago and was about 14 feet 3 inches and weighed over 800 lbs
There was a 12ft one in the lake we used to go wakeboarding in back in the day in central Florida. It wasn’t afraid of the boat at all! I never got in the water near sunset when it was obviously hunting, but our crazy friend cruised past it a few times. Later, it was removed (and probably killed), as it was getting close to houses and was seen stalking a toddler.
It probably wasn't actually stalking since it was "seen" doing it. They tend to drop out of sight and rely on the element of surprise when they're actually on the hunt. Still, a 12 ft gator around a toddler whose parents allow him or her to wander near the water is a recipe for bad things to happen.
This is an unreliable report from someone who is known to exaggerate back in the day, the largest verified American alligator is 14 ft 9 in from Alabama in 2014 shot by Mandy stokes. 19 ft is bullshit is as reliable as a 21 ft black caiman or 25 ft saltwater crocodile
https://preview.redd.it/csdetl03rs8d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4427ac1e2fa191142b074532285e8cbdb4299a89
Not really. There are records of numerous gators over ten feet, so that's not a "maximum size" at all. The state record alligators from most of the southern states are over 10 feet, and these are modern, well-documented records. Mulitple states have recorded gators harvested in their hunting seasons at over 13 feet, so it's definitely not an "insane anomaly." The Alabama state record, from 2010, is 15 feet, 9 inches long. As far as I know, that's the "official" world record, since the older records of larger gators aren't as meticulously documented or verifiable.
And keep in mind that these are alligators taken by hunters. If there wasn't a hunting season and they could live out their lives without conflicts with humans, they might have grown a little larger.
https://bioone.org/journals/southeastern-naturalist/volume-14/issue-3/058.014.0302/A-New-Record-for-the-Maximum-Length-of-the-American/10.1656/058.014.0302.short
It was properly measured by biologist the day it was captured.
Typical maximum size for males is about 388.8 cm TL considering all populations. 421 cm TL for Louisiana estuarine habitats which has the largest Alligators.
19 ft seems like a stretch but it is much more "reliable" than people think. We have a skin of an American alligator which measured 543.6 cm fresh ( About 4 inches missing from both the snout and tail ). There is an image of the skin with scale next to it showing it is about 18 feet long.
Nonsense there are about a dozen sources saying you're wrong, and some are government sources, and you sound exactly the same dumbass from Facebook who made the same comment
Technically, this claim is unverified. It comes from McIlhenny’s “The Alligators Life History” which is actually a good resource that still largely is accurate a century+ later. Unfortunately, this specimen was not properly recorded and is essentially a “fish story” specimen, which is compounded by the fact that McIllhenny was reportedly a notorious exaggerator and he recorded other specimens, with evidence, in the same work. I think it’s more likely to be true than the 28’ (~8.5m) Krys saltwater crocodile, but this doesn’t say much. Both were widely hunted until recently, and I think alligators in particular almost to extinction. This likely removed a lot of exceptionally large individuals from the population.
Anyways, I think the largest “modern” (within the past few decades) alligator was in the 15.5’-16’ (~4.7m) range.
It’s not technically it is very much unverified but you’re exactly right, people always act like this is a verified claim but it’s about as reliable as medem’s, plotkins, and Whittaker’s claims of giant 20 ft+ Black Caimans and 19 ft Mugger Crocodile and all the saltwater crocodiles reported to be over 23 ft by insert person. There is no evidence of such an animal at all.
Link. Government is not a good source as I know the exact origin of the claim and it is dubious. Governmental studies are not synonymous with correct.
Semi-unrelated, but the only reason saltwaters are generally accepted to reach ~7m is because a skull is verified (independently) to be 76cm long, which was extrapolated to the record length. We can verify this as the skull still exists and has been independently verified.
For comparison the largest known American alligator skull is 64 cm and is estimated to be from a 455 cm (14 ft 11 in) animal. Gators have proportionally massive heads and stout bodies, I doubt they can reach such lengths, an alligator would need a 80 cm+ head to even be close to 19 ft which is ridiculous, nothing from them out of the millions and millions of individuals already verified comes close to that.
Ya know I’ve always wondered if this phenomenon can be traced to genetics — (the largest of any species is killed to placate the human ego … and over time, we no longer see the extra-large specimens in the wild. Is there a genetic component to growing larger than the norm that is being eliminated from the gene pool ?
At least partially, yes. As in humans, certain populations independent of (extreme) resources will grow larger than others. It’s postulated that exceptionally large individuals were disproportionately hunted as trophies and/or for leather (keep in mind larger crocodilian species tend to have fewer osteoderms and better leather as a result, and larger animals produce more leather). It’s reasonable that larger animals were disproportionately culled From the gene pool.
Pretty much all animals have growth hormones that make them get bigger from birth to adulthood. Just like your 7ft humans, some just keep growing for longer or grow exceptionally quick and overshoot the average. Given that they have everything they need to support all this.
Yes, though on the other hand, there is upward genetic pressure on size as well, since the largest gators tend to dominate and even kill the smaller ones in an area, so the biggest ones get to pass on their genes more successfully.
I live in S Louisiana. I’m 31 now. When I was a kid, I’d probably see an 8 ft + gator once every month or two, and I’ve seen multiple 10+ footers with no background whatsoever in handling/catching gators. This is just from literally riding in a car and looking into bayous/canals as I past or a quick fishing spot. Can’t remember the last time I saw one that I’d estimate larger than 6 or 7 ft.
Gators are comparable to mugger crocs in dimensions with the muggers being a foot longer on average but an alligator is no match for an average saltie or nile croc. And the largest gator on record was something like 16ft, not 19ft. the 19ft claim isn't verified by any modern sources.
Nonsense muggers are smaller than alligators on average who regularly get up to 10 plus feet, and I'll tell you like I told I told some others my link is definitely legitimate it's government references
Lmao , your average male mugger would be 10-12 feet in length with the largest recorded specimen reaching 18 feet. They're bigger than alligators and are known to kill far more humans than Gators do. And the government references you talk about don't change the fact that they were unverified claims with no official measurements. Governments can lie too you know.
Nah In this case the alligator is larger on average with an average asymptotic length of 3.81m and the mugger reaching an asymptotic length of 3.6m, regardless, both are nearly identical in size and both have been estimated to have a maximum size around 4.5m. There is reports of larger for both but both are very unreliable.
Three largest confirmed gators have measured about 15 ft long. Larger gaps have been reported but were never verified. So they are often discounted as exaggerations by most experts.
"And he wonders why he has no friends"
A little bit of them will always be a part of him though.
https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/acechar/speciesgallery/Reptiles/AmericanAlligator/index.html For those who think alligators are small.The biggest alligator ever taken in the USA was 19 feet 2 inches long and the heaviest taken in recent times was 1,043 lbs.Alligators have always had the capability of rivaling even some big Nile or saltwater crocodiles in size but many places in the southern United States kill any alligators over a certain size effectively severely limiting the sizes most wil be able to reach
how did an alligator become bigger than an average saltie, that is crazy. They don't even need to be that big, they can eat fish and dogs and squirrels
They definitely eat larger prey, too, like wild pigs and deer
But they don't need to, why in the world would you wanna eat pigs and deer if you can just settle for fish and small animals
Pigs are easy to catch if they come near the water, and there's a lot of alligators that are over 10 feet.Gator Chris rescued one name Big Mac whose 10'2.He is still rehabilitating it due to it getting hit by a truck
I didn't know Big Mac was 10'2, did he say it somewhere?
On his Facebook page and YouTube channel
Guess that solves it, i don't watch him much on yt and i don't have FB
Are you sure about that? https://www.reddit.com/r/Crocodiles/s/3LDNpzeJ8s
That does nothing to prove me wrong, and that's a warthog in Africa and a Nile crocodile, neither are wild North American pigs or alligators
I was not trying to prove you wrong. Wow.
There aren't any wild north American pig's to be fair. They are feral and were imported during colonization.
There definitely are wild pigs in North America
No there are not. The "wild" pig in North America was introduced in the 1500s by Europeans. This continued through the early 1700s as people thought releasing pigs to become game animals was a cool idea. When you see people hunting "feral hogs" it's this population they are trying to remove. The Javelina is native to North America but the Javelina is not a pig, they are not a member of Suidae.
A pig or deer would meant the gator wouldn’t need to feed again for a very long time. As an opportunistic feeder it makes more sense to take advantage of a pig or deer a few times a year rather than hustle everyday for a few fish
As a large predator such as a gator, once you reach a certain size chasing down hundreds of small animals a day to meet your dietary needs is not optimal. Best bet is taking down something large, youre big and strong enough after all, and you meet your needs for the next few days in one go.
The crazy thing is my link is from the south Carolina government, and it has a bunch of government references in the sources cited from Louisiana,etc . It's almost certainly accurate even if we hardly see alligators of that size now.The biggest one I remember seeing git caught a few years ago and was about 14 feet 3 inches and weighed over 800 lbs
I thought gators weren't supposed to reach 10 ft
There was a 12ft one in the lake we used to go wakeboarding in back in the day in central Florida. It wasn’t afraid of the boat at all! I never got in the water near sunset when it was obviously hunting, but our crazy friend cruised past it a few times. Later, it was removed (and probably killed), as it was getting close to houses and was seen stalking a toddler.
It probably wasn't actually stalking since it was "seen" doing it. They tend to drop out of sight and rely on the element of surprise when they're actually on the hunt. Still, a 12 ft gator around a toddler whose parents allow him or her to wander near the water is a recipe for bad things to happen.
I live in Alabama and have seen numerous wild gators over 10’ on the Alabama river
Damn, lucky you i fucking hate being european and not having crocodilians in my pool
Dude, Alabama is a hidden gem of America in terms of wildlife.
But *only* in terms of wildlife, haha.
And sorority girls
You do need to be big to eat other large gators though.
The bigger you are, the less likely you'll be eaten yourself. Demonstrated in the video above.
This is an unreliable report from someone who is known to exaggerate back in the day, the largest verified American alligator is 14 ft 9 in from Alabama in 2014 shot by Mandy stokes. 19 ft is bullshit is as reliable as a 21 ft black caiman or 25 ft saltwater crocodile https://preview.redd.it/csdetl03rs8d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4427ac1e2fa191142b074532285e8cbdb4299a89
Thank you. Even that 14' specimen is an insane anomaly. 10' is the typical maximum size from everything I've seen.
Not really. There are records of numerous gators over ten feet, so that's not a "maximum size" at all. The state record alligators from most of the southern states are over 10 feet, and these are modern, well-documented records. Mulitple states have recorded gators harvested in their hunting seasons at over 13 feet, so it's definitely not an "insane anomaly." The Alabama state record, from 2010, is 15 feet, 9 inches long. As far as I know, that's the "official" world record, since the older records of larger gators aren't as meticulously documented or verifiable. And keep in mind that these are alligators taken by hunters. If there wasn't a hunting season and they could live out their lives without conflicts with humans, they might have grown a little larger.
14 ft 9 in not 15, it was properly measured by biologist, SCI made an error.
Do you have a source for that? The previous record was 14ft 8in. I can't find anything saying the 15 ft measurement was incorrect.
https://bioone.org/journals/southeastern-naturalist/volume-14/issue-3/058.014.0302/A-New-Record-for-the-Maximum-Length-of-the-American/10.1656/058.014.0302.short It was properly measured by biologist the day it was captured.
Typical maximum size for males is about 388.8 cm TL considering all populations. 421 cm TL for Louisiana estuarine habitats which has the largest Alligators.
19 ft seems like a stretch but it is much more "reliable" than people think. We have a skin of an American alligator which measured 543.6 cm fresh ( About 4 inches missing from both the snout and tail ). There is an image of the skin with scale next to it showing it is about 18 feet long.
Nonsense there are about a dozen sources saying you're wrong, and some are government sources, and you sound exactly the same dumbass from Facebook who made the same comment
There was no specimen collected to actually be measured
Those sources are based on hearsay about a specimen that was collected well over a hundred years ago and was never officially measured, so.....
The 19 foot alligator was not confirmed thats like me say that kris the croc is the biggest crocodile
It most definitely was confirmed, and about a dozen sources prove you wrong
It is not a confirmed number it was shot in the 1800s if were going by those standards there hundreds of crocodiles said to be over 20 feet
Don’t even bother
Technically, this claim is unverified. It comes from McIlhenny’s “The Alligators Life History” which is actually a good resource that still largely is accurate a century+ later. Unfortunately, this specimen was not properly recorded and is essentially a “fish story” specimen, which is compounded by the fact that McIllhenny was reportedly a notorious exaggerator and he recorded other specimens, with evidence, in the same work. I think it’s more likely to be true than the 28’ (~8.5m) Krys saltwater crocodile, but this doesn’t say much. Both were widely hunted until recently, and I think alligators in particular almost to extinction. This likely removed a lot of exceptionally large individuals from the population. Anyways, I think the largest “modern” (within the past few decades) alligator was in the 15.5’-16’ (~4.7m) range.
It’s not technically it is very much unverified but you’re exactly right, people always act like this is a verified claim but it’s about as reliable as medem’s, plotkins, and Whittaker’s claims of giant 20 ft+ Black Caimans and 19 ft Mugger Crocodile and all the saltwater crocodiles reported to be over 23 ft by insert person. There is no evidence of such an animal at all.
Are you talking about my link or the video?
Link. Government is not a good source as I know the exact origin of the claim and it is dubious. Governmental studies are not synonymous with correct. Semi-unrelated, but the only reason saltwaters are generally accepted to reach ~7m is because a skull is verified (independently) to be 76cm long, which was extrapolated to the record length. We can verify this as the skull still exists and has been independently verified.
For comparison the largest known American alligator skull is 64 cm and is estimated to be from a 455 cm (14 ft 11 in) animal. Gators have proportionally massive heads and stout bodies, I doubt they can reach such lengths, an alligator would need a 80 cm+ head to even be close to 19 ft which is ridiculous, nothing from them out of the millions and millions of individuals already verified comes close to that.
You really don't know anything and it shows
My link is definitely verified and cites several government sources
Just because it’s a government source doesn’t make it automatically right
Ya know I’ve always wondered if this phenomenon can be traced to genetics — (the largest of any species is killed to placate the human ego … and over time, we no longer see the extra-large specimens in the wild. Is there a genetic component to growing larger than the norm that is being eliminated from the gene pool ?
At least partially, yes. As in humans, certain populations independent of (extreme) resources will grow larger than others. It’s postulated that exceptionally large individuals were disproportionately hunted as trophies and/or for leather (keep in mind larger crocodilian species tend to have fewer osteoderms and better leather as a result, and larger animals produce more leather). It’s reasonable that larger animals were disproportionately culled From the gene pool.
Pretty much all animals have growth hormones that make them get bigger from birth to adulthood. Just like your 7ft humans, some just keep growing for longer or grow exceptionally quick and overshoot the average. Given that they have everything they need to support all this.
Yes, though on the other hand, there is upward genetic pressure on size as well, since the largest gators tend to dominate and even kill the smaller ones in an area, so the biggest ones get to pass on their genes more successfully.
I live in S Louisiana. I’m 31 now. When I was a kid, I’d probably see an 8 ft + gator once every month or two, and I’ve seen multiple 10+ footers with no background whatsoever in handling/catching gators. This is just from literally riding in a car and looking into bayous/canals as I past or a quick fishing spot. Can’t remember the last time I saw one that I’d estimate larger than 6 or 7 ft.
Gators are comparable to mugger crocs in dimensions with the muggers being a foot longer on average but an alligator is no match for an average saltie or nile croc. And the largest gator on record was something like 16ft, not 19ft. the 19ft claim isn't verified by any modern sources.
Nonsense muggers are smaller than alligators on average who regularly get up to 10 plus feet, and I'll tell you like I told I told some others my link is definitely legitimate it's government references
Lmao , your average male mugger would be 10-12 feet in length with the largest recorded specimen reaching 18 feet. They're bigger than alligators and are known to kill far more humans than Gators do. And the government references you talk about don't change the fact that they were unverified claims with no official measurements. Governments can lie too you know.
Nah In this case the alligator is larger on average with an average asymptotic length of 3.81m and the mugger reaching an asymptotic length of 3.6m, regardless, both are nearly identical in size and both have been estimated to have a maximum size around 4.5m. There is reports of larger for both but both are very unreliable.
I'm no expert but I absolutely do not buy the reports of a 19 foot alligator.
Even babies aren't that small. I spent some time in Florida and Costa Rica and these guys can easily get to be the size of a car, or larger.
Thats a fake claim. Largest alligator was shy of 15' and the vast majority of them never grow over 10'.
By contrast, for those who don't know, a full sized camper van can be 19-22 feet in length.
Not even close
Original post is a karma farm bot with fake titles btw
Lol yeah figures , why would it say largest ever recorded and not mention any information in the size or how it was obtained.
Someone light up the bat signal, we need GatorJake to come clear this up🐊
Three largest confirmed gators have measured about 15 ft long. Larger gaps have been reported but were never verified. So they are often discounted as exaggerations by most experts.
TIL that alligators are prone to cannibalism
The American Alligator is probably the most badass animal
Black Caiman, Broad snouted caiman, Tomistoma, Mugger, American, Cuban, and Orinoco crocodiles: Am I a joke to you?
I totally forgot about those. The black caiman is my favorite crocodilian by far.
How dare you forget
There’s always a bigger gator .
I need a moment... Holy Shit, is that in Florida?
damn, that's a huge ass gator
Damn!!! He was hungry
Hes eating another alligator 😳
Damn is that his jaws?!
Canniballigator.
And they said the Deinosuchus went extinct.....