166 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



At ';his rate the 'gator is doomed to certain extinction — 

 and soon — as the demands of the trade now call for the 

 very small skins as well as the larger ones and, to hasten 

 this saurian's departure from our fauna, the State of Lou- 

 isiana has "outlawed" it, and it can be killed at any time 

 and in any manner and by anybody in any of the coastal 

 parishes — and is ! 



Life History of the Alligator 



The Louisiana alligator belongs to the order Crocodilia; 

 family Crocodilidae. The alligator differs from a like ani- 

 mal known as a crocodile; the physical difference seems to 

 be based mainly on the shape of the head and is the one 

 used by Ditmars in his "Reptiles of the World," in classi- 

 fying the Crocodilia, which, he says, are all included in a 

 single group of that name. The members of this peculiar 

 reptile order are found in all parts of the great continental 

 areas, except Europe, and mainly in tropical or subtropical 

 regions. 



There are four forms and 20 species recognized; the 

 crocodile, the gavial, the caiman, and the alligator. The 

 crocodile is the largest of living reptiles, the most numerous 

 in species and the most widely distributed of the group. 

 It is characteristic of the fauna of Madagascar and Africa, 

 where is found the famous Nile crocodile of history. Croco- 

 diles abound also in Mexico, Central and South America, 

 the West Indies, South Asia, the East Indies, Australia, 

 and, in the United States, only in the southern part of 

 Florida. Crocodiles of existing Old World forms are known 

 to attain a length of 30 feet, but the average length, in- 

 cluding the big Nile crocodile, is about 16 feet. 



The gavial is found in India and some of the islands 

 of the Orient, particularly Borneo and Sumatra. Its name, 

 pronounced ga'vi-al, is a corruption of the Indian word 

 "ghargial," which means "fish-eater," as fish is the gavial's 

 main item of food. 



The caiman occurs in southern Mexico and in Central 

 and South America. The name, pronounced ka'man, is 



