American Alligator Anatomy Profile Showing Watertight Ear Flap Just Behind The Eye Stock Photography

Alligators have large external ears that can hear above water and sense vibration under water. The ears are covered by a watertight ear flap seen as a slit just behind the eye that the alligator can open and shut. Bony plates inside the skin, called osteoderms or scutes, make the skin very tough and hard. Large alligator photographed in the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia USA.