alligator

The alligator is a very rare charge occuring on only a handful of English coats of arms, and is depicted as it is in life, rather then being one of the mythical creatures one might expect. A Glossary of Terms used in British Heraldry, J.H. Parker, Oxford, 1894, Entry:alligator The similar creature, the crocodile was after all, thought to the inspiration for the dragon! The Symbolisms of Heraldry, W. Cecil Wade, George Redway, London, 1898 P26