An orange-coloured alligator has appeared in South Carolina. Photo from Facebook

An unusually orange alligator spotted in South Carolina is making waves on social media for a complexion that many have compared to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Nicknamed the “Trumpagator” by local residents, the rust-colored reptile was spotted sunning itself near a pond in the city of Hanahan.

As The Post and Courier reports, numerous commenters on the Tanner Plantation and Foster Creek Community Facebook page, where photos of the gator first appeared, have speculated on the origin of its eye-catching appearance.

The reptile is thought to have been covered in a coat of dried clay, but one Twitter user playfully theorized that perhaps the gator may have “used too much self-tanner?!?!”

According to Kent A. Vliet, an alligator biologist at the University of Florida, it’s very likely that the gator won’t remain that peculiar colour for the foreseeable future.

“I have no doubt that animal is stained somehow,” he told Post and Courier. “He’s the colour of rust. ”

So rather than an odd genetic defect, Vilet theorizes that there’s an environmental explanation for the alligator’s tan-coloured appearance that should eventually fade.