Alligator mississippiensis
American Alligator

Large. Aquatic. Crocodilian-like in appearance. Species account on iNaturalist
US Fish & Wildlife Service
Regulated

Arkansas Herpetological Atlas 2019

This species is represented by 246 records from 8 sources: 6 museum (), 44 literature (), 0 research (), and 78 observation (), with 118 additional Trauth et al. (2004) locality points remaining unsourced (). It has been museum vouchered for 2 of 75 counties (), with 44 additional counties having other forms of reported occurrence (). Years of collection range from 1955 to present.

This species currently occurs in the South Central Plains and much of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, with ascension up the Arkansas Valley along the Arkansas River to Russellville, Pope County, and Petit Jean River to Danville, Yell County. After near extirpation, followed by restocking efforts by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC) from 1975-1984, the current distribution likely approximates the historical range (K. J. Irwin, pers. comm.). The northern extent is based, in part, on a 2001 record from the vicinity of the Cache River, west of Jonesboro, Craighead County, with two additional AGFC reports dated in the 2000s from the St. Francis River, Greene County (K. J. Irwin, pers. comm.; range shading pending specific locality information). It has not been definitively documented from Missouri (Daniel and Edmond, 2020). A large number of localities plotted by Trauth et al. (2004) remain unsourced, although several AGFC reports providing source documentation are in-waiting for installment in the AHA.