AMERICAN ALLIGATOR: The American alligator may play second fiddle to the saltwater crocodile when it comes to sheer size, but it's got the saltie beat when it comes to biting ability. At nearly 3,000 pounds per square inch, the American alligator has the most powerful bite ever measured in the animal kingdom. This awesome creature is the largest crocodilian in the Western Hemisphere. Adult males can weight 1,000 pounds and reach 16 feet in length. Quick in the water, it uses its webbed feet as paddles and flat, keeled tail as a propeller. Its long, flat tail is extremely muscular and can be used as a weapon, and bony plates on its back, called scutes, function as a natural armor. Nostrils located at the tip of its long, rounded snout, let the alligator remain almost entirely submerged while waiting for prey to wander within striking distance. It feeds on snakes, turtles, fish and small mammals, and will even snatch birds from low-lying branches.