How does the American alligator see?
The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is a reptile in the order not recorded. Its eyes belong to the vision type Crocodilian waterline.
Measured in this species: colour and night vision. Measured colour or sharpness: a measured receptor set or acuity in this species; other dials come from relatives or group defaults. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
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What stands out
- It has three colour receptor classes, like most people.
- Activity pattern: nocturnal.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 3 receptor classes: 444 nm (SWS (blue)), 535 nm (MWS (green)), 566 nm (LWS (long)) measured in this species | Measured | [1] |
| Sharpness | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Field of view | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 0 mode of species-v1 relatives in class Crocodylia: Crocodylus porosus | Group default | [2] |
| Fovea type visual streak | Group default | [2] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern nocturnal mode of 5 rows (of 5 rows): cathemeral; nocturnal | Measured (not re-verified) | [3][4][1][5][6] |
| Rods vs cones rod-dominated nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated | Derived | [3][4][1][5][6] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | No value in the catalogue. | ||
Related animals
- Saltwater crocodile same vision type
- Green anole same order ()
- Panther chameleon same order ()
- Red-eared slider same order ()
- Tokay gecko same order ()
- Western diamondback rattlesnake same order ()
More reptiles: all reptiles with measured vision data.
Sources
- Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
- species_v1:Nagloo et al. 2016
- Anderson SR, Wiens JJ. 2017. Out of the dark: 350 million years of conservatism and evolution in diel activity patterns in vertebrates. Evolution 71:1944-1959. Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.fg700. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fg700
- Banks MS, Sprague WW, Schmoll J, Parnell JAQ, Love GD. 2015. Science Advances 1:e1500391. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500391
- Oskyrko O, Mi C, Meiri S, Du W. 2024. ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11 (doi:10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5). Dataset v1-2 (includes Meiri 2018 lizard traits). doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- Moura et al. 2024. A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLoS Biol 22:e3002658. TetrapodTraits v3.0.1.. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22536349
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?