sofia > academy of environmental science and technology > science fair

Science Fair Projects: Science Fair Home >Temperature Effects on the Growth of the American Alligator Captive Florida Panther Scent Enrichment Cetacean Vocaliztion Freuency Related to Size, Migration Status, and Social Stucture Do Fish Prefer Natural or Artificial Reefs? Fertilizer Effects on the Growth of the Dutch Iris Florida Panther Population Viability Analysis Computer Animations of Mitosis Academy of Environmenal Science and Technology Home

Temperature Effects on the Growth of the American Alligator

Rosie Steffen, David Paladino, Anthony Zeitland

[larger image]

The purpose of this experiment was to test how temperature affects the growth rate of the North American alligator, Alligator mississipiensis. The alligators were housed in two fifteen-gallon tanks, each with two gallons of water and a small rocky platform. We added a heat lamp to one tank, keeping it at an average temperature of 90.82 °F (air) and 91.83 °F (water) versus the second tank at an average temperature of 77.21 °F (air) and 76.8 °F (water). They were fed, weighed and measured three times a week.

Our results showed a weight gain of 54.2 grams for the alligator housed in the heated tank (alligator A) versus 2.8 grams for the alligator in the unheated tank (alligator B). The length increase (from head to the tip of the tail) showed 2.75 inches for alligator A versus only .5 inches for alligator B. The total amount of food (sardines and crickets) consumed by alligator A was 394.51 grams and only 117.87 grams for the unheated alligator.

A warm environment results in greater growth possibly because the alligator’s metabolism is stimulated, and they consume more food. Also, the alligator in the warm environment behaved more actively while the alligator in the room temperature tank was less active and consumed very little. We conclude that temperature does in fact affect the growth of the North American alligator and that they are better adapted to warm environments.