Chinese alligator
Alligator sinensis Fauvel, 1879
CRCritically Endangeredcrocodilians
The chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) is a crocodilian reptile in the family Alligatoridae, named by Fauvel, 1879. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category, and checklists record it in China.
Quick facts about the chinese alligator
Adults weigh 12.7 kg, with reported values from 10.75 to 14.6 kg, placing it in the medium size class. It produces one clutch of 20 eggs per year, the eggs incubate for 70 days, sexual maturity comes at 6.7 years, and lifespan reaches up to 70 years.
- Weight
- 10.8 kg – 14.6 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 2.46 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 60.7 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 70 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- freshwatersrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 70 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 20.3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 6 years – 7.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Photos of the chinese alligator
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the chinese alligator live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The chinese alligator is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ReptileDB (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the chinese alligator?
The Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis; simplified Chinese: 鼍; traditional Chinese: 鼉; pinyin: tuó), also known as the Yangtze alligator (simplified Chinese: 扬子鳄; traditional Chinese: 揚子鱷; pinyin: yángzǐ'è), China alligator, or historically the muddy dragon, is a crocodilian endemic to China. It and the American alligator (A. mississippiensis) are the only living species in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. Dark gray or black in color with a fully armored body, the Chinese alligator grows to 1.5–2.1 metres (5–7 ft) in length and weighs 36–45 kilograms (80–100 lb) as an adult. It brumates in burrows in winter and is nocturnal in summer. Mating occurs in early summer, with females most commonly producing 20–30 eggs, which are smaller than those of any other crocodilian. The species is an opportunistic feeder, primarily eating fish and invertebrates. A vocal species, adults bellow during the mating season and young vocalize to communicate with their parents and other juveniles. Captive specimens have reached age 70, and wild specimens can live past 50.
Living in bodies of fresh water, the Chinese alligator's range is restricted to six regions in the province of Anhui, as well as possibly the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Originally living as far away from its current range as Japan, the species previously had a wide range and population, but beginning in 6000 BC, multiple threats, such as habitat destruction, caused the species' population and range to decline. The population in the wild was about 1,000 in the 1970s, decreased to below 130 in 2001, and grew after 2003, with its population being about 300 as of 2017. Listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, multiple conservation actions have been taking place for this species.
The Chinese alligator has been a part of Chinese literature since the third century. In the late 13th century, Marco Polo became the first person outside of China to write about it. In some writings, the Chinese alligator has been associated with the Chinese dragon.
From the Wikipedia article “Chinese alligator” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alligator&oldid=1381340082), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the chinese alligator endangered?
The chinese alligator is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species.
How is the chinese alligator classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderCrocodylia
- familyAlligatoridae
- genusAlligator
- SpeciesAlligator sinensis Fauvel, 1879
Synonyms Caigator sinensis
Other names and names in other languages (30)
- China alligatorEnglish
- China alligatorEnglish
- Muddy dragonEnglish
- T'oEnglish
- Yangtze alligatorEnglish
- Yangtze river alligatorEnglish
- Yow lungEnglish
- Sjinese AlligatorAfrikaans
- قاطور صينيArabic
- aligátor čínskýCzech
- China-AlligatorGerman
- Aligátor chinoSpanish
- Aligator de ChinaSpanish
- Alligator de ChineFrench
- kínai aligátorHungarian
- Alligatore cineseItalian
- ヨウスコウワニJapanese
- ヨウスコウアリゲーターJapanese
- 양쯔강악어Korean
- KinaalligatorNorwegian Bokmål
- Kinesisk AlligatorNorwegian Bokmål
- Aligator chińskiPolish
- Jacaré-chinêsPortuguese
- Китайский аллигаторRussian
- kitajski aligatorSlovenian
- кинески алигаторSerbian
- จระเข้ตีนเป็ดจีนThai
- Алігатор китайськийUkrainian
- 扬子鳄Chinese
- 揚子鱷Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the chinese alligator
Other species in the same genus Alligator.
American alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
CompareChinese alligator vs American alligatorChinese alligator vs Alligator hailensis
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the chinese alligator?
The chinese alligator is a crocodilian, a reptile in the order Crocodylia and the family Alligatoridae.
How heavy is a chinese alligator?
Adults weigh 12.7 kg, with reported values from 10.75 to 14.6 kg.
Is the chinese alligator endangered?
Yes. It is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
Which countries is the chinese alligator recorded in?
Checklists record the chinese alligator in China.
How long does a chinese alligator live?
Its lifespan is 60.7 years, with values up to 70 years reported.
How many eggs does a chinese alligator lay?
It lays 20 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, and the eggs incubate for 70 days.
When does a chinese alligator reach sexual maturity?
It reaches sexual maturity at 6.7 years, with reported values from 6.0 to 7.5 years.
Who named the chinese alligator and what are its other names?
It was named Alligator sinensis by Fauvel, 1879. Other English names include T'o, Yow lung, Muddy dragon, China alligator and Yangtze alligator.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/chinese-alligator
“Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/chinese-alligator.
@misc{chinese_alligator_2026,
title = {Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/chinese-alligator},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}