Chinese alligator

The Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis, simplified Chinese: 扬子鳄; traditional Chinese: 揚子鱷; pinyin: yángzǐ'è), also known as the Yangtze alligator, China alligator, or historically the muddy dragon, is a critically endangered crocodilian endemic to China. It and the American alligator are the only living species in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. Dark gray or black in color with a fully armored body, the Chinese alligator grows to 1.5–2.1 metres (5–7 ft) in length and weighs 36–45 kilograms (80–100 lb) as an adult. It brumates in burrows in winter and is nocturnal in summer. Mating occurs in early summer, with females most commonly producing 20–30 eggs, which are smaller than those of any other crocodilian. The species is an opportunistic feeder, primarily eating fish and invertebrates. A vocal species, adults bellow during the mating season and young vocalize to communicate with their parents and other juveniles. Captive specimens have reached age 70, and wild specimens can live to over 50. Living in bodies of fresh water, the Chinese alligator's range is restricted to six regions in the province of Anhui, as well as possibly the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Originally living as far away from its current range as Japan, the species previously had a wide range and population, but beginning in 5000 BC, multiple threats, such as habitat destruction, caused the species' population and range to decline. The population in the wild was about 1000 in the 1970s, decreased to below 130 in 2001, and grew after 2003, with its population being about 300 as of 2017. Listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, multiple conservation actions have been taking place for this species. Several breeding facilities, both in China and foreign countries, have bred specimens in captivity and sometimes released them back into the wild. The Chinese alligator has been a part of Chinese literature since the third century. In the late 1200s, Marco Polo became the first person outside of China to write about it. In some writings, the Chinese alligator has been associated with the Chinese dragon. Many pieces of evidence suggest that the Chinese alligator was the inspiration for the Chinese dragon. Chinese alligators have appeared in Chinese literature since 222–227 AD. Marco Polo was the first person outside of China to write about the alligator, when he came to China and discovered it in the late 1200s. He said that the alligator lived in 'caverns' in the day and hunted at night, and that humans targeted its meat and skin, with its gall bladder having multiple medical purposes. He stated that it was found in lakes, rivers, and springs in the province 'Karazan'. In 1656, Martino Martini, a priest, wrote that the Chinese alligator lived in the river Yangtze and was 'much feared by the local residents'. Unlike Polo, Martini wrote his description using information from Chinese literature. Chinese alligators were later thought to give Buddhist priests merit if the priests were to buy alligators held in captivity and release them. In 1869, Robert Swinhoe saw a Chinese alligator in an exhibit in Shanghai and wrote the following year: The alligator was described by French naturalist Albert-Auguste Fauvel in 1879 as Alligator sinensis. The genus Alligator had previously contained only the American alligator since its creation in 1807. Fauvel wrote a detailed description of the species in a book titled Alligators in China: Their History, Description & Identification, including information about its historical account. In 1947, it was suggested to group the Chinese alligator in a separate genus from its American relative, due to the Chinese alligator's bony plate on its upper eyelid. This bony plate is present in caimans, but is rarely present in the American alligator. At the time, the plate was thought to not appear in the American alligator at all. This produced the belief that the Chinese alligator's relationship with other crocodilians was between caimans and American alligators. Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala described the genus Caigator the same year, which only contained the Chinese alligator, making its scientific name Caigator sinensis. However, paleontology has shown that the Chinese alligator has evolved from other now-extinct members of the genus Alligator. This and the fact that the American alligator does infrequently have a bony plate on its eyelid have caused Caigator sinensis to now be classified as a synonym of Alligator sinensis. There is still not a consensus among biologists that the American and Chinese alligators belong to the same genus, despite multiple studies comparing the biochemistry, histology, and various other aspects of the two crocodilians. The genus, Alligator, is based on the Spanish word el lagarto, which translates to 'the lizard'. The specific name, sinensis, is from the Latin plural possessive sinaensis, meaning 'belonging to China'. One of the smallest species of crocodilians, the Chinese alligator attains a length of 1.5–2.1 metres (5–7 ft) and weight of 36–45 kilograms (80–100 lb) as an adult. Females are roughly three-quarters the length of males. It is less than half the size of the American alligator, which typically grows to a length of 3.4 metres (11.2 ft) for males and 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) for females. Reports are known of alligators in China reaching 3.0 metres (10 ft) in past centuries, but these are no longer thought to be accurate.