Alligator Feeding Habits: New Data and a Review

Wolfe, James L.; Bradshaw, Dwight K.; Chabreck, Robert H.

doi:10.18785/negs.0901.01

Cited by 43 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Delany & Abercrombie (1986), Barr (1997) and Rice (2004) pointed out that ingestion of invertebrates increases with the size of crocodiles. Occurrence of large prey on diet of crocodiles enormously contributes to biomass, since they prefer them to maximize nutritional efficiency when different preys have the same availability (Wolfe et al 1987). Crustaceans were an abundant prey for subadult crocodiles in our study area, especially mangrove crabs and crabs of genus Brachyura, similar to the findings of Gómez (2004).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Feeding habits of the american crocodile, crocodylus acutus (cuvier, 1807) (reptilia: crocodylidae) in the Southern Coast of Quintana Roo, México

Villegas

Schmitter‐Soto

2008

AZM

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RESUMENEntre enero y septiembre de 2006 se capturaron 21 cocodrilos (Crocodylus acutus) y se recapturaron seis en cuatro sistemas lagunares de la costa sur de Quintana Roo para analizar los contenidos estomacales. Las presas encontradas en el contenido estomacal se dividieron en cinco grupos y se realizaron análisis basados en la frecuencia y en el volumen. Las presas encontradas en orden de importancia fueron peces, crustáceos, aves, mamíferos e insectos. La dieta de los cocodrilos cambió considerablemente de acuerdo con el tamaño corporal de los individuos. Los cocodrilos adultos agregaron a su dieta presas de mayor talla como aves y mamíferos. Peces y crustáceos estuvieron representados en la dieta de individuos de todas las clases de tamaño, demostrando la importancia que estas presas tienen en la dieta de C. acutus. Palabras clave: Crocodylus acutus, Quintana Roo, contenido estomacal, hábitos alimentarios. ABSTRACTBetween January and September 2006, 21 crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) were captured and six were recaptured in four lagoons located in the southern coast of Quintana Roo. Stomach contents were obtained in order to identify prey items, which were analyzed by the frequency and volume method. In decreasing order of importance, prey items were fish, crustaceans, birds, mammals and insects. Diet of crocodiles changed considerably according to their body size. Adult crocodiles added larger preys (birds and mammals) to their diet; fish and crustaceans were present in the diet at all sizes, thus showing the importance of these prey in the diet of American crocodiles.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Feeding habits of the american crocodile, crocodylus acutus (cuvier, 1807) (reptilia: crocodylidae) in the Southern Coast of Quintana Roo, México

Villegas

Schmitter‐Soto

2008

AZM

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“…Similarly, fish constitute a large percentage of the diet of the American alligator at relatively small sizes, though at larger size classes, they become less significant. For example, in very large (3.0ϩ m) animals, mammals may constitute 81.4% of diet by mass, while fish only constitute 15.1% (Wolfe et al, 1987), consistent with Dodson's (1975) suggestion, based on growth studies of the skull in this species, that allo-metric changes in cranial structure have important effects on prey choice among crocodilians [this was also discussed by Hutton (1987) regarding Crocodylus niloticus]. Magnusson et al (1987), however, suggest that diet among Amazonian crocodilians is a function of habitat selection, rather than a function of cranial mechanics.…”

Section: Does the Crocodilian Skull Represent A Functional Compromisementioning

confidence: 99%

Biomechanics of the rostrum in crocodilians: A comparative analysis using finite‐element modeling

McHenry¹,

Clausen²,

Daniel³

et al. 2006

Anat. Rec.

157

251

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This article reports the use of simple beam and finite-element models to investigate the relationship between rostral shape and biomechanical performance in living crocodilians under a range of loading conditions. Load cases corresponded to simple biting, lateral head shaking, and twist feeding behaviors. The six specimens were chosen to reflect, as far as possible, the full range of rostral shape in living crocodilians: a juvenile Caiman crocodilus, subadult Alligator mississippiensis and Crocodylus johnstoni, and adult Caiman crocodilus, Melanosuchus niger, and Paleosuchus palpebrosus. The simple beam models were generated using morphometric landmarks from each specimen. Three of the finite-element models, the A. mississippiensis, juvenile Caiman crocodilus, and the Crocodylus johnstoni, were based on CT scan data from respective specimens, but these data were not available for the other models and so these-the adult Caiman crocodilus, M. niger, and P. palpebrosus-were generated by morphing the juvenile Caiman crocodilus mesh with reference to three-dimensional linear distance measured from specimens. Comparison of the mechanical performance of the six finite-element models essentially matched results of the simple beam models: relatively tall skulls performed best under vertical loading and tall and wide skulls performed best under torsional loading. The widely held assumption that the platyrostral (dorsoventrally flattened) crocodilian skull is optimized for torsional loading was not supported by either simple beam theory models or finite-element modeling. Rather than being purely optimized against loads encountered while subduing and processing food, the shape of the crocodilian rostrum may be significantly affected by the hydrodynamic constraints of catching agile aquatic prey. This observation has important implications for our understanding of biomechanics in crocodilians and other aquatic reptiles. Anat Rec Part A, 288A:827-849, 2006. © 2006 Key words: crocodiles; skull biomechanics; finite-element analysis; feeding; hydrodynamics; aquatic/marine tetrapods; comparative modelingCrocodilians have long been used as a model for interpreting the paleobiology of fossil species. The range of overall head shape and dentition in living taxa is reasonably broad (Mook, 1921), and observed correlations between these anatomical features and feeding ecology in crocodilians (Iordansky, 1973;Langston, 1973;Aoki, 1977;Van Drongelen and Dullemeijer, 1982;Busbey, 1989) have formed the bases for hypotheses of feeding paleoecology in a large array of

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“…Other alligator food habits studies have shown a progression from invertebrate to vertebrate prey utilization as the animal grows larger (McNease and Joanen 1977, Delany and Abercrombie 1986, Wolfe et a/. 1987.…”

Section: Size Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Habits of Juvenile American Alligators in the Upper Lake Pontchartrain Estuary

Brantley

Hastings

1990

NEGS

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Alligator Feeding Habits: New Data and a Review

Cited by 43 publications

References 8 publications

Feeding habits of the american crocodile, crocodylus acutus (cuvier, 1807) (reptilia: crocodylidae) in the Southern Coast of Quintana Roo, México

Feeding habits of the american crocodile, crocodylus acutus (cuvier, 1807) (reptilia: crocodylidae) in the Southern Coast of Quintana Roo, México

Biomechanics of the rostrum in crocodilians: A comparative analysis using finite‐element modeling

Food Habits of Juvenile American Alligators in the Upper Lake Pontchartrain Estuary

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