American alligator is endemic to southeastern US and is the official state reptile of Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It and the Chinese alligator are the only two living species in the genus Alligator. Alligators belong to the family Alligatoridae, and crocodiles belong to the family Crocodylidae (and both families belong to the reptilian order Crocodylia). They are real "living dinosaurs" because their lineage goes back to about 240 million years ago, and they are still surviving and thriving in the present (way beyond the extinct dinosaurs).
One common question from most people is what are the differences between alligators and crocodiles. Basically, alligators have a wider snout and expose only the upper jaw teeth when the mouth is closed. Meanwhile, crocodiles have a long and narrow snout, and upper and lower teeth are both exposed when the mouth is closed.
To get to Slidell from New Orleans, we drove across Lake Pontchartrain on the Causeway which is the second longest bridge in the world. Pretty awesome.
