Beth Ann Hill, age 9, of Charleston, West Va., for her question:
Are alligators related to crocodiles?
The alligator who lives in the swamplands of Florida has 24 first cousins. We have a special name for all of these fellows, a fine, fancy name that means crocodile ¬type animals. They are the crocodilians.
The alligator and the crocodile look for all the world like brothers, but if they were brothers they would not have different names. They are really cousins that are almost exactly alike. When you know just what to look for, you can tell which is which. Andy's readers enjoy this fascinating problem and one of his most popular questions is how to tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile.
An animal's features are the noticeable parts of his body, such as his nose and skin. The alligator and the crocodile have many features that are alike. The list of different features is very short. Let's begin with some of the look alike features on the longer list. Both of them are long and squatty fellows with scaly skins. Both ar£ cold blood ed reptiles that make their home in warm, swampy marshes, in lakes and reedy rivers. Both are hungry meat eaters with long, toothy jaws to catch and gobble up their victims.
The short list of different features begins with their jaws. The long snout of the crocodile is narrower and more pointed. The snout of the alligator is wider and the end is more round ed. Both of them have some extra long teeth in the lower jaw, and if they did not solve this problem they could never shut their mouths tightly. The alligator has one way to tuck in his extra long lower teeth and the crocodile has another way.
The alligator has pits in his upper jaw, just above his long lower teeth. When he shuts his big mouth, each long tooth fits into a hole and disappears. The crocodile has grooves down the Outside of his upper jaw, just above his long lower teeth. When h£ shuts his mouth each bottom tooth slides into one of these grooves. We can see them poking up outside his upper jaw. What's more, they push up and give a twist to the sides of his mouth. With his mouth closed, Mr. Crocodile seems to have a wicked looking smile. The alligator never smiles, and this is the easiest way to tell which is which.
The experts class the alligators and crocodiles in the same order of animals. Their order is named Crocodilia, which Means the crocodile type creatures. The alligators and crocodiles, the caimens and the gavials are all crocodilian cousins belonging in the Crocadilia order of animals.
The gavials are slim, small crocodilians that live in the warm waters of India, Malay and the faraway east Indies. The little caimens live in the moist marshes of Central and south America. One alligator cousin lives in China, the rest are native Americans. The smiling crocodiles lurk in warm, wet places all around the world. They are the giants of the family. The biggest crocodile may measure more than 20 feet from the tip of his snout to the tip of his mighty tail.