Stephen B. Linda

Hatching success of crocodilian eggs can be influenced by the age of the embryo at time of collection. We conducted an experiment to determine the amount of care necessary during egg collection to optimize embryo survival when alligators eggs at different stages of development were subjected to simulated field conditions of choppy vs. smooth water and cushioned vs. non-cushioned support. We also compared hatching success of rolled vs. non-rolled eggs at different stages of development. We found that transporting eggs in choppy water reduced hatch rates in the absence of cushioning (P <...

We examined stomach contents from 219 American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) collected from 4 Florida lakes. Fish, mostly shad (Dorosoma spp.), bowfin (Amia calva), and gar (Lepisosteus spp.) occurred in 55.3% of the stomachs and was the most important food group (57.5%) by volume. Apple snails (Pomacea paludosa) and crayfish (Procambarus spp.) were important invertebrate prey (66.7% occurrence and 6.6% by volume). Of the 195 stomachs having a dominant food type (>50% of the total food volume), most (72%) contained one food type exceeding 90% of the total food volume. The...