She appeared to change from her usual dark brown to black, grey and blue over the space of just a few minutes as the sun rose over the lake at 7am.
But unlike a chameleon, the change of colour was not a conscious decision. It was purely down to the sky reflecting off her shiny scales.
Biology professor Louis Guillette, 55, took the picture on a lake next to his home in Gainesville, Florida, United States.
He said: "It was a cold and clear spring morning. I went out to watch the sun come up on the small lake, which was covered in mist.
"As the mist cleared there was a 2.3 metre American alligator about five metres in the water in front of me. It was watching and waiting for the sun to come up as well.
"We sat quietly and let the sun come up together.
"As it did, the water changed colour from the reflected leaves on the trees around the lake.
"The wet alligator also changed colours as she reflected the colour of the sky - in this case the bright blue of the early morning sun." He added: "This animal is a resident female. We share the same lake and that morning we shared the sunrise.
"I took a number of photos as she changed colours from her usual dark brown to black, blue, grey and then brown.
"I'm not sure why cartoons normally portray alligators as green because they never are - unless they are covered in weeds.
"The lake water changed colours as well and all this took place over about five or six minutes.
"I love this photo because the water on her back makes the scales look almost like molten metal."
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