Tugas Bahasa Inggris

Oleh:
M. Ridwan
Aris Nandar
Ega Wardana
Anwar fauzi
Reza Saepul
Robi Hoerul
Trisno Hidayat

Kelas : XI TPP B
 Aligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae
. The two living species are the American alligator (A. mississippiensis) and
the Chinese alligator (A. sinensis). In addition, several extinct species of
alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the
Paleocene epoch about 37 million years ago.[1]
The name "alligator" is probably an anglicized form of el lagarto, the Spanish
term for "the lizard", which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida
called the alligator. Later English spellings of the name included allagarta
and alagarto.[2]
 Desciprive
Alligators are native only to the United States and China.[9][10]
American alligators are found in the southeast United States: all of Florida and Louisiana, the southern
parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, coastal South and North Carolina, East Texas, the southeast
corner of Oklahoma, and the southern tip of Arkansas. According to the 2005 Scholastic Book of World
Records, Louisiana has the largest alligator population. [11] The majority of American alligators inhabit
Florida and Louisiana, with over a million alligators in each state. Southern Florida is the only place where
both alligators and crocodiles live side by side.[12][13]
American alligators live in freshwater environments, such as ponds, marshes, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and
swamps, as well as in brackish environments. [14] When they construct alligator holes in the wetlands, they
increase plant diversity and provide habitat for other animals during droughts. [15] They are, therefore,
considered an important species for maintaining ecological diversity in wetlands. [16] Further west, in
Louisiana, heavy grazing by coypu and muskrat are causing severe damage to coastal wetlands. Large
alligators feed extensively on coypu, and provide a vital ecological service by reducing coypu numbers. [17]
The Chinese alligator currently is found only in the Yangtze River valley and parts of adjacent provinces [10]
and is extremely endangered, with only a few dozen believed to be left in the wild. Indeed, far more
Chinese alligators live in zoos around the world than can be found in the wild. Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge
in southern Louisiana has several in captivity in an attempt to preserve the species. Miami MetroZoo in
Florida also has a breeding pair of Chinese alligators.
 Reproduction
Alligators generally mature at a length of 6 feet (1.8m). The mating season is in late spring. In April and
May, alligators form so-called "bellowing choruses". Large groups of animals bellow together for a few
minutes a few times a day, usually one to three hours after sunrise. The bellows of male American
alligators are accompanied by powerful blasts of infrasound.[29] Another form of male display is a loud
head-slap.[30] Recently, on spring nights alligators were found to gather in large numbers for group
courtship, the so-called "alligator dances".[31]
In summer, the female builds a nest of vegetation where the decomposition of the vegetation provides
the heat needed to incubate the eggs. The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature in the
nest and is fixed within seven to 21 days of the start of incubation. Incubation temperatures of 86F
(30C) or lower produce a clutch of females; those of 93F (34C) or higher produce entirely males.
Nests constructed on leaves are hotter than those constructed on wet marsh, so the former tend to
produce males and the latter, females. The baby alligator's egg tooth helps it get out of its egg during
hatching time. The natural sex ratio at hatching is five females to one male. Females hatched from eggs
incubated at 86F weigh significantly more than males hatched from eggs incubated at 93F. [32] The
mother defends the nest from predators and assists the hatchlings to water. She will provide protection
to the young for about a year if they remain in the area. The largest threat to the young are adult
alligators. Predation by adults on young can account for a mortality rate of up to 50% in the first year. In
the past, immediately following the outlawing of alligator hunting, populations rebounded quickly due to
the suppressed number of adults preying upon juveniles, increasing survival among the young
alligators.
Anatomy
Alligators, much like birds, have been shown to exhibit
unidirectional movement of air through their lungs. [33] Most
other amniotes are believed to exhibit bidirectional, or tidal
breathing. For a tidal breathing animal, such as a mammal, air
flows into and out of the lungs through branching bronchi
which terminate in small dead-end chambers called alveoli. As
the alveoli represent dead-ends to flow, the inspired air must
move back out the same way it came in. In contrast, air in
alligator lungs makes a circuit, moving in only one direction
through the parabronchi. The air first enters the outer branch,
moves through the parabronchi, and exits the lung through
the inner branch. Extensive vasculature around the
parabronchi are where oxygen exchange takes place. [34]
They have muscular, flat tails that propel them while
swimming.
The two kinds of white alligators are albino and leucistic.
These alligators are practically impossible to find in the wild.
They could survive only in captivity and are few in number. [35]
[36] The Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans has leucistic

alligators found in a Louisiana swamp in 1987. [36]