The Alligator, the Bison, and the Jaguar: Three Animals That Used to Coexist and Possibly Fight in Texas

Prehistoric and current environments are full of powerful animals, and especially the most powerful get people's attention. One of my favorite categories when I used to be on Dinosaur Home was Who vs Who, where one could speculate on which of two extinct animals would be able to kill the other in a fight. However, there is a different pair (and, in fact, a trio) of animals that are still around today whose ranges used to all overlap in what is now Texas less than 200 years ago. Alligators, powerful reptiles of the swamps and rivers, still inhabit a large portion of eastern and southern Texas. Bison, giant mammals that only packs of wolves (and humans) can take down now, used to live not only in the Texas panhandle but almost the entire state. Jaguars, the largest feline predators of the Americas, used to live north and east of the Mexican border whereas now they are not in any part of Texas. Putting all these ranges together, it appears that these three animals all had overlapping ranges in parts of central and southern Texas, possibly including San Antonio. Given that San Antonio's history stretches back over 300 years, I wouldn't doubt that the American Indian and Spanish residents could have seen all three animals during their lifetimes under Spanish rule. It would be interesting to see if any Spanish records provide evidence of these animals in Texas, and especially if they fought each other. But rather than doing that, I'm simply going to compare the three animals and give guesses as to what would happen for the two-way fights involving those three (alligator versus bison, bison versus jaguar, jaguar versus alligator).

American alligators in Texas

Anyone familiar with alligators or Texas will know that the American alligator is the apex predator of the lower elevations of Texas, particularly the swamps, rivers, and lakes. The edge of their range currently extends nearly along the Interstate 35 corridor. What some don't know, however, is that long ago - between the Ice Ages, that is - there was a time when the climate was warmer and wetter than today, so that their range extended as far west as Lubbock. Only around 50 years ago, alligators were endangered, but today they are thriving and expanding their range in every direction, including south where alligator sightings in Matamoros, Mexico might soon be commonplace. Alligators prey on animals as large as adult white-tailed deer, though it's easier for them to prey on smaller animals.

Bison in Texas

Bison have been through a rough ride, but they are still tough animals. Their historic range is well documented, and while they are mostly associated with the Great Plains, they lived in quite a wide portion of North America in pre-Columbian times, including all of Texas except for low areas near the coast. Their range started to shrink northwestward as bison hunting got easier due to advances in guns and larger populations of humans. There's an impressive map detailing the shrinking range of the American bison by William T. Hornaday that seems to suggest that the range of the bison and that of the alligator no longer overlapped by 1850. Bison have often been too large and powerful for one predator to take down. Today, the only natural predators of adult bison are packs of wolves and humans armed with guns or other weapons. But was it different before the late 19th century?

Jaguars in Texas

Jaguars are the only felids of the genus Panthera in the Americas. This genus also includes leopards, lions, snow leopards, and tigers, all of which are nearly or definitely apex predators where they live. Even their names tend to be associated with lethal power and strength, and this is true of the jaguar too (ever heard of the Aztec jaguar warriors?) Their position at or near the top of the food chain enables them to prey upon almost any animal, but like with alligators, they usually go for smaller prey. Speaking of crocodilians, jaguars live alongside them in many parts of their range, and jaguars regularly prey on small species of crocodilians. The jaguar's range now is from northern Mexico to southern Brazil, but that range used to extend throughout the southwest United States in historic times and even throughout most of the entire country in prehistoric times. But the question is, would a jaguar be able to kill one of the largest crocodilians in North America (the American alligator) and the largest mammal in North America (the American bison)?

American alligator versus American bison

For understanding who would win in a fight between any of the three animals I'm talking about, it's easy enough to consider what the weight range is for each animal and what the weight range is for a predator's largest prey. Taking a look at the American alligator, we know that the large ones can prey upon mammals as large as cattle and white-tailed deer. Cattle appear to be the larger of the two, for deer can be around 100 kg while beef cattle, such as Angus, are on average around 700 kg. Bison, on the other hand, can get over 1,000 kg. Therefore, I kind of doubt that even large alligators would have killed adult bison. Therefore, here's how I imagine a potential fight would have gone down:

At a riverbank in Texas, a bison comes to the water to drink. As it laps the water with its tongue, a large alligator detects potential prey from below the water. Not knowing the size of the bison, the alligator lunges out, spooking the bison. The alligator misses the head but manages to grab a back leg as the bison turns away. Feeling the bite, the bison turns to confront the alligator. The alligator's tail would normally be dangerous, but the bison is too large to be knocked down. Instead, the bison tramples the alligator's rear, damaging the bones. The alligator decides to relent and limps back into the water.

American bison versus jaguar

The jaguar may be the apex predator of Central and South America, but the bison is the largest mammal of North America. Jaguars can take down almost any animal within its range, but the jaguar's prey also has its limits. Studies of the jaguar's diet have shown that its prey are rarely larger than 130 kg. If you remember from what I said about bison, however, those can be over 1,000 kg. I think the bison again has the upper hand here. Here's the scenario:

Out on the plains, a mother bison is out with her calf. A jaguar observes from a distance. This jaguar thinks he may be able to take the calf and drag it away. The jaguar decides to attack from behind. He grabs the calf and starts to drag it away, but the jaguar underestimates the agility of the mother bison, who charges the jaguar. The bison manages to hook her horn into the jaguar's side. Now it is the jaguar who is the defender. The jaguar scratches at the bison's head and tries to bite, but the bison tramples the jaguar. The jaguar might not survive his injuries, and the calf might not survive either, but the mother bison survives with some scars.

Jaguar versus American alligator

Here we see one apex predator versus another. Jaguars already encounter various crocodilian species, but alligators are larger than the caimans that are jaguars' prey. On the other hand, alligators prey on the occasional bobcat or even cougar, but jaguars are larger than both. Nevertheless, the largest alligators are well outside the jaguar's preferred prey size, while large alligators can take down cattle, which are larger than jaguars. I think this could be an even fight, but I'd guess that alligators would have killed jaguars more than jaguars killed alligators. After all, the most similarly sized relatives of American alligators in the jaguar's range today, black caimans, are sometimes large enough to kill an adult jaguar. Here's my scenario:

A jaguar starts crossing the Rio Grande near today's Brownsville. As the jaguar crosses, it alerts a large male alligator, who starts swimming up to the jaguar and grabs it along the torso. Immediately the alligator starts death rolling as the jaguar tries fighting back with its claws and teeth, though the jaguar can't see well in the muddy water. This alligator is no stranger to rough fights, (and some alligators today can get parts of their jaws bitten off and still survive). The alligator keeps its strong grip and keeps rolling until the jaguar dies.

Conclusion

If Texas wasn't already interesting, one of the interesting facts about the state is that it has some of North America's largest mammals and reptiles and used to have North America's largest felid. All three - the bison, alligator, and jaguar - used to coexist in that state and in that state only well into the 19th century. The most powerful of those three animals, however, was still the bison, which to this day is able to defeat any land predator one on one except maybe grizzly bears.