Captured back on 3/13/10, at the beautiful Griffith Park/Los Angeles Zoo in Los Angeles, California. This handsome critter seems to be asleep, while warming its reptilian blood in the dappled sunlight. An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. The two living species are the American alligator (A. mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (A. sinensis). In addition, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the Oligocene epoch about 37 million years ago. The name "alligator" is probably an anglicized form of el lagarto, the Spanish term for "the lizard", which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. Source: Wikipedia free encyclopedia. A ZOOM would be most beneficial. Ta ta.