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#LivingDinosaurThursday #ThrowbackThursday
Alligator Gar. The largest species of gar-the fossil record goes back over 100M yrs ago to the Early Cretaceous. These toothed fish are stalking ambush predators, mostly eating fish but also waterfowl & small mammals, & they can breathe in both air & water.
12:29 PM - Apr 04, 2024 (Edited)
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Ol'Man River
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They have a vascularized swim bladder lung that allows them to inhabit stagnant and unaerated waters that would suffocate other fish, as they can surface for air.
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They have tough scales, not flexible like most fishes, but composed of an inner layer of bone and an outer layer of ganoin, which is basically like human tooth enamel. Did I mention that they are often serrated?
12:29 PM - Apr 04, 2024
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They spawn in oxbow lakes and sloughs and inundated vegetation, thus relying on the spring flood cycle. They are long-lived - females live up to 50 years old and males 26.
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They are found throughout my lower river valley, as far north as the confluence with the Missouri River. The largest alligator gar ever caught was netted in Vicksburg, Mississippi in one of my oxbow lakes - it was 8ft 5.25in long, weighed 327lb and was estimated to be between 50 and 70 years old.
12:29 PM - Apr 04, 2024
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