Anatomy
Alligators are the only non-avian species shown to have one-way breathing, although presumably similar measurements for other crocodilians (not yet done) would show unidirectional air flow in them as well. All other non-avian amnionts have dead-end breathing. In dead-end breathing the air flows into the lungs through branching bronchi which terminate in small dead-end chambers called alveoli. The air moves in both directions through the bronchi. In alligators the air makes a circuit through the lungs moving in only one direction through the bronchi. The air first enters the outer branch, moves through the lungs in small tubes called parabronchi, and exits the lung through the inner branch. The parabronchi are where the oxygen exchange takes place.
They have a muscular flat tail that propels them while swimming.
There are two kinds of white alligators, albino and leucistic. These alligators are practically impossible to find in the wild. They could survive only in captivity and are few in number. The Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans has leucistic alligators found in a Louisiana swamp in 1987.
Read more about this topic: Alligator
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