A pair of eyes lurks just above the water's surface. Is it a crocodile or an alligator? Packed with beautiful and engaging photos, kids will learn all about these two reptiles--and find out what makes them different. This level 2 reader provides both accessible and wide-ranging text to encourage the scientists and explorers of tomorrow!

Alligators and crocodiles, the dinosaur monsters of our era, are fascinating to watch and an adrenaline rush! This book attempts to give you wonderful views of these creatures with nearly all the information you would need to understand them, their environment, and how they contribute to the health and vitality of the ecosystem in which they live.

In this book, readers will learn basic scientific facts about alligators, including the all-important characteristics that distinguish alligators from crocodiles, and how caring individuals, along with the government and other organizations, cooperated to make alligators a conservation success story.

Discusses what American alligators are, why they are endangered, what their current status is, and what is being done to help them. Includes Internet links to Web sites related to American alligators.

Readers are introduced the habitat and lifestyle of the American Alligator and learn how the American Alligator is making a comeback from near extinction. Find out how people in the southeastern United States are learning to live with these amazing creatures.

Description of the similarities and differences in appearance, habits and behavior of alligators, crocodiles and their kin.

Scientists believe American alligators have been around for nearly 150 million years, but they came close to going extinct. American Alligator explores the alligator's key role in its habitat, how hunting and habitat changes almost led to its extinction, and how efforts such as egg collection and controlled hunting help to preserve the species. Easy-to-read text, vivid images, and helpful back matter give readers a clear look at this subject. Features include a table of contents, infographics, a glossary, additional resources, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Having survived since the Mesozoic era, alligators teetered on the brink of extinction in the 1960s. Their recovery in the 1970s was largely due to legislative intervention, and today populations are closely monitored throughout their range. American Alligator is the most up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of this resilient relic, a creature with a brain weighing less than half an ounce that has successfully adapted to a changing Earth for more than 200 million years. Kelby Ouchley chronicles the evolution of A. mississippiensis from "shieldcroc"--the last common ancestor of modern-day alligators, crocodiles, caimans, and gavials--to its current role as keystone of the ecological health of America's southern swamps and marshes. In Florida, the apex predator uses its snout and feet to clear muck from holes in the limestone bedrock. During the dry season, these small ponds or "alligator holes" provide refuge, food, and water for a variety of wildlife. In Louisiana, millions of dollars are spent on the bounty of the non-native nutria that overgraze marsh vegetation, but alligators prey on these coastal rodents free of charge. The loss of the American alligator would be a blow to biodiversity and an ecosystem disruption affecting all levels of the food chain. While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed it from the endangered species list in 1987 and today regulates the legal trade of the animal and its products, Ouchley cautions us not to forget the lessons learned: human activities, from urban development to energy production, can still threaten the future of the gator and its southern wetland habitat.

Examination of scalation of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from populations in the eastern and western parts of the species range revealed several scale characteristics that varied between populations and significant variation in the number of transverse ventral rows, number of anterior nuchal scales, number of scales in the anterior dorsal scale row, number of scales in the posterior transverse scale rows, and occurrence of caudal irregularity. Ventral ossification occurs in alligators longer than 165 cm from both the eastern and western parts of the species range. Because of a lack of material from the central part of the alligator's range (Alabama and Mississippi), the nature of this variation cannot be determined.