Chinese Alligator :: Alligator sinensis

Bad at Goodbyes :: Episode 059

On today’s show we learn about the Chinese Alligator, critically endangered reptile native to the Yangtze River system in the Anhui Province of southeastern China.

• (00:05) Intro
• (02:05) Species Information
• (29:21) Citations
• (31:12) Music
• (38:25) Pledge

For more information about Chinese Alligator conservation, see the IUCN-SSC Crocodile Specialist Group at https://www.iucncsg.org.

Research for today’s show was compiled from:

• Encyclopedia Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/animal/Chinese-alligator
• Groppi, L. 2006. "Alligator sinensis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. – https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Alligator_sinensis/
• Jiang, H.-X. & Wu, X. 2018. Alligator sinensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T867A3146005. -  https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T867A3146005.en
• Kabir, Ashraful. Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis) (Fauvel, 1879) (Reptilia: Alligatoridae): Captive Breeding as Well as its Rehabilitation. International Journal of Research Studies in Zoology. Volume 8, Issue 2, 2024, PP 5-8. – https://doi.org/10.20431/2454-941X.0802002
• Lau, Erika Y. X., Josh A. Hodge, Jonathan P. Rio, Tao Pan, Philip D. Mannion, and Samuel T. Turvey. “Using Local Ecological Knowledge to Identify Land-Use Threats to the Last Wild Population of the Chinese Alligator Alligator Sinensis.” Oryx, 21 February 2025, 1–10. – https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605324000978
• Liu, V. H. (2013). Chinese Alligators: Observations at Changxing Nature Reserve & Breeding Center. Reptiles & Amphibians, 20(4), 172-183. – https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v20i4.13965
• Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. (n.d.). Chinese alligator. – https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/chinese-alligator
• Sun, K., Li, M., Wang, Z., Sun, S., Yang, J., Wu, X., & Pan, T. (2025). Habitat Integrity Challenges for the Chinese Alligator Amid Land Occupation by Human: Pathways for Protection. Ecology and Evolution, 15 (3), e71113. – https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71113
• Thorbjarnarson, John, and Wang Xiaoming. “The Conservation Status of the Chinese Alligator.” Oryx 33, no. 2 (1999): 152–59. – https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1999.00051.x
• Thorbjarnarson, John & Wang, Xiaoming & He, Lijun. (2001). Reproductive Ecology of the Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis) and Implications for Conservation. Journal of Herpetology. 35 (4). 553. – https://doi.org/10.2307/1565892
• Xianyan Wang, Ding Wang, Xiaobing Wu, Renping Wang, Chaolin Wang. 1 May 2007. Acoustic signals of Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis): Social communication. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 121 (5): 2984–2989. – https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2714910
• Yang, H. & Zhao, Lan & Han, Qun-Hua & Fang, S.. (2017). Nest site preference and fidelity of chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis). Asian Herpetological Research. 8. 244-252. – https://doi.org/10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.170066

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A note on accuracy: I strive for it! These episodes are well-researched and built from scholarly sources, hoping to provide an informed and accurate portrait of these species. That said, I’m a musician! I am not an academic and have limited scientific background. I may get things wrong! If you are using this podcast for scholarship of any kind, please see the cited sources and double-check all information.