Editing Alligator (section)

{{Short description|Crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Pp-semi-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| italic_title = no
| name = Alligators
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|37.2 | 0|ref=<ref name="Rio2021">{{cite journal |last1=Rio |first1=Jonathan P. |last2=Mannion |first2=Philip D. |date=6 September 2021 |title=Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem |journal=[[PeerJ]] |volume=9 |pages=e12094 |pmid=34567843 |doi=10.7717/peerj.12094 |pmc=8428266 |doi-access=free}}</ref>|PS=[[Priabonian|Late Eocene]] – [[Holocene|present]]}}
| image = Chinese+american alligators.png
| image_caption = An [[American alligator]] (top) and a [[Chinese alligator]]
| taxon = Alligator
| authority = [[Georges Cuvier|Cuvier]], 1807
| type_species = ''[[Alligator mississippiensis]]''
| type_species_authority = [[François Marie Daudin|Daudin]], 1802
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision = * {{extinct}}''[[Alligator hailensis]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Alligator mcgrewi]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Alligator mefferdi]]''
* ''[[Alligator mississippiensis]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Alligator munensis]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Alligator olseni]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Alligator prenasalis]]''
* ''[[Alligator sinensis]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Alligator thomsoni]]''
}}

An '''alligator''', or colloquially '''gator''', is a large [[reptile]] in the [[genus]] '''''Alligator''''' of the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Alligatoridae]] in the [[Order (biology)|order]] [[Crocodilia]]. The two [[Extant taxon|extant]] [[species]] are the [[American alligator]] (''A. mississippiensis'') and the [[Chinese alligator]] (''A. sinensis''). Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the late [[Eocene]] epoch about 37&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Rio2021"/>

The term "alligator" is likely an [[Anglicisation (linguistics)|anglicized]] form of ''{{lang|es|el lagarto}}'', [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for "the lizard", which early Spanish explorers and settlers in [[Florida]] called the alligator.<ref name=histories>{{cite book |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |author=American Heritage Dictionaries |title=Spanish Word Histories and Mysteries: English Words That Come From Spanish |pages=[https://archive.org/details/spanishwordhisto00houg/page/13 13–15] |year=2007 |isbn=9780618910540 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/spanishwordhisto00houg/page/13 }}</ref> Early [[English language|English]] spellings of the name included ''allagarta'' and ''alagarto''.<ref>Morgan, G. S., Richard, F., & Crombie, R. I. (1993). The Cuban crocodile, ''Crocodylus rhombifer'', from late quaternary fossil deposits on Grand Cayman. Caribbean Journal of Science, 29(3–4), 153–164. {{cite web|url=http://200.46.218.171/bds-cbc/sites/default/files/The%20Cuban%20Crocodile%20from%20Late%20Quaternary%20Fossil%20Deposits%20on.PDF |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-03-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329023145/http://200.46.218.171/bds-cbc/sites/default/files/The%20Cuban%20Crocodile%20from%20Late%20Quaternary%20Fossil%20Deposits%20on.PDF |archive-date=2014-03-29 }}</ref>