Lets face it, crocodiles, alligators - they both look the same. Beady eyes, scary teeth and loads of warty skin - what else do you need to know? Well, they must be different otherwise they wouldn't have different names, and with just a closer look - and a little help from a suitable expert - you can see for yourself just how different they truly are.
The first difference between a crocodile and an alligator is that they are from different families. While both are grouped within the crocodilian family, crocodiles are from the crocodylidae family, while alligators and caiman are from the alligatoridae family.
In terms of physical differences the easiest way to tell the difference between the two is that a crocodile has a very long, narrow, V-shaped snout, while the alligator's snout is wider and U-shaped. Because of the wide snout of the alligator it packs more crushing power to eat prey like turtles that constitute part of its diet. The narrow crocodile snout, although still very powerful, is not really suited for prey like turtles but is very versatile for fish and mammals.
An alligator, on the other hand, has a wider upper jaw, so when its mouth is closed the teeth in the lower jaw fit into sockets of the upper jaw, hidden from view. Only the teeth of the upper jaw are exposed along the lower jaw line. Even the enormous 4th tooth on the bottom jaw, which is exposed in a crocodile, is hidden in the alligator.
For related articles click onto:
All about Animals
All about the Cheetah
All about Chimpanzees
All About Coyotes
All about Gorillas
All about Hedgehogs
What is a Jaguar?
All about Meerkats
All about Polar Bears
All about Snow leopards
All about Tigers
All About Wolves
All about Dolphins
All about Lions
All about Rattlesnakes
Alligator
Alligator and Crocodile
Alligator Facts
America's Deadliest Snakes
Are Jellyfish Fish?
Are Zebras Black with White Stripes or White with Black Stripes?
Baby Elephants
Black Rhino Facts
Charles Darwin's Greatest Experiment
Charles Darwins Legacy - 200 years on
Cheetah
Cheetah Facts, Videos and Photographs
Can Dolphins Kill Sharks?
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee Facts
Coelacanth
Darwin
Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Diamondback Rattlesnake
Do Fish Sleep?
Dinosaur: Archaeopteryx
Dinosaur: Did Pterosaurs hang upside down?
Dinosaur Facts and Movie clips - The Spinosaur
Dinosaur: The Pterodactyl
Dinosaur: The Spinosaur
Dolphin
Elephant
Elephants
Elephant Facts
Flying Fish
Giraffe Facts
Gorilla
Great White Shark Facts
Hedgehog facts
Hippo Baby
How and What do Worms Eat?
How Big is the Blue Whale?
How do Dolphins Communicate?
How Fast is a Cheetah?
How Fast is a Snail?
How Long can a Flying Fish Fly for?
How to Catch Crayfish
How to Feed Hummingbirds
Hummingbird Facts
Kung Fu Panda
Is a Koala Bear a Bear?
Is a Meerkat a Cat?
Koala Facts
Komodo Dragon Facts
Komodo Dragon Habitat
The Laurel and hardy Song - The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia
Lion
Lion Facts
Living Dinosaur Shark - The frilled shark
LIVING DINOSAURS - The Coelacanth
Meerkat Facts
Moose Facts
Ostrich Facts
Panda
Panda Bear
Panda Facts
Peacock Facts
Peafowl and Peacocks
Polar Bear
Polar Bear Facts
Portuguese Man of War Stings
Rango Facts and Movie Videos
Rattlesnake Facts
Sea animals: Sea Anemones
Snow Leopard facts
Starfish Facts
Terra Nova - Dinosaur Trailer
What are the Nine Sub-Species of Tiger?
The African Elephant
The Asiatic Lion
The Bengal Tiger
The Black Rhino
The Blue Whale
The Bumble Bee
The Chimpanzee
The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus)
The Coelacanth - a living, breathing fossil
The Cuckoo
The Coyote
The Differences Between Crocodiles and Alligators
The Differences Between Horses and Zebras?
The Duck-Billed Platypus
The Flying Squirrel
The Jaguar
The Wolf
The Eagle Owl
The Frilled Shark
The Giant Salamander
The Indian Rhino
The Koala
The Giraffe
The Golden Eagle
The Great White Shark
The Hedgehog
The Hummingbird Moth
The Hippo
The Hippopotamus
The Hummingbird
The Indian Lion
The Jesus Christ Lizard
The Komodo Dragon
The Mammoth
The Moose
The Manatee
The Meerkat
The Naked Mole Rat
The Ostrich
The Ostrich
The Peacock
The Peregrine Falcon
The Portuguese Man of War
The Rattlesnake
The Saber-Toothed Tiger
The Saltwater Crocodile
The Snow Leopard
The Snowy Owl
The Tasmanian Tiger
The Terror Bird
The Whale
The Wild Coyote Dog
The World's Ugliest Animals
Tiger
Tiger Facts
Tigers
Ugly Animals
Venomous Snakes
What are Mycorrhizal Fungi?
What are Plant Macronutrients and Micronutrients?
What are Plant Nutrients?
What are Sharks?
What are Truffles?
What Causes Blue Hydrangeas to Turn Pink?
What Causes Moss in Lawns
How do Dolphins Breath when they Sleep?
What Animal is Sid from the Film 'Ice Age'?
What do Alligators Eat?
What do Cuckoos Eat?
What do Hedgehogs Eat?
What do Dolphins Eat?
What do Dolphins do?
What do Giraffes Eat?
What does the Great White Shark Eat?
What do Hummingbirds Eat?
What do you Feed Hummingbirds?
What do Jaguars Eat?
What do Elephants Eat?
What do Koalas Eat?
What do Killer Whales Eat?
What do Lions Eat?
What do Pandas Eat?
What do Peacocks Eat?
What do Polar Bears Eat?
What do Gorillas Eat?
What do Lions Eat?
What do Meerkats Eat?
What do Snow Leopards Eat?
What do Tigers Eat?
What does a Wolf Eat?
What is an Alligator?
What are Bats?
What do Komodo Dragons Eat?
What is Chlorosis?
What is a Cheetah?
What is a Duck-Billed Platypus?
What is a Coyote?
What is a Dolphin?
What is a Flying Fish?
What is a Giraffe?
What is a Gorilla?
What is a Hedgehog?
What is Horticulture?
What is a Hummingbird?
What is a Jaguar?
What is a Naked Mole Rat?
What is a Koala?
What is a Komodo Dragon?
What is a Lion?
What is a Mammoth?
What is a Manatee?
What is a Meerkat?
What is an Ostrich?
What is a Polar Bear?
What is a Saber Toothed Tiger?
What is a Snow Leopard?
What is a Snowy Owl?
What is the Tasmanian Tiger?
What is a Terror Bird?
What is a Tiger?
What are Whales?
What is E.Coli?
What is Frankincense?
What is John Innes Base?
What is John Innes Compost?
What is a Leaf Mould Compost?
What is Cork Made of?
What is a Truffle?
What is a Wormery?
What is an Epiphyte?
What is an F1 Hybrid?
What is an Orchid?
What is Over-watering and How to Recognise it?
What is a Portuguese man of war?
What is Pricking out?
What is Rhubarb Poisoning?
What is the Difference between African and Indian Elephants?
What is the Difference between Alligators and Crocodiles?
What is the Difference Between a Chicken and a Hen?
What is the Difference between a Fruit and a Vegetable?
What is the Difference Between Fruit and Vegetables
What is the Difference between a Frog and a Toad?
What is the Difference between Currants, Raisins and Sultanas?
What is the Difference between a Moth and a Butterfly?
What is the Difference between a Rat and a Mouse?
What is the Difference between a Squash, a Pumpkin and a Gourd?
What is the Difference Between a Tortoise and a Turtle?
What is the Difference between a Zebra and a Horse?
What is the Most Poisonous Snake in India?
What is a Black Widow Spider?
What is a Cuckoo?
What is a Flying Fish?
What is a Manatee?
What is a Panda?
What is a Peacock?
What is a Wolf?
What is Saffron?
What is the Most Venomous Snake in America?
What is the World's Biggest Cat?
What is the Worlds Biggest Shark?
What is the Worlds Fastest Animal?
What is the Worlds Largest Amphibian?
What is the Worlds Largest Eagle?
What is the Worlds Largest Flower?
What is the Worlds Largest Insect?
What is the World's Largest Snake?
What is the World's Largest Species of Tiger?
What is the World's largest Reptile?
What is the World's Largest Spider?
What is the Worlds Fastest Fish?
What is the World's Poisonous Fish?
What is the Worlds most Poisonous Frog?
What is the World's most Poisonous Snake?
What is the World's Ugliest Dog?
What is the most Poisonous Spider?
What is Tomato Blight?
When do you feed Hummingbirds?
Which Animal has the Largest Brain in the World?
When should you Re-pot an Orchid?
Where can you find Flamigoes?
Where can you find Flying Squirrels?
Where can you find the Golden Eagle?
Where can you find Gorillas?
Where do you find Great White Sharks?
Where can you find Pandas?
Where can you Find a Polar Bear?
Where did the Saber-Toothed Tiger Live?
Where do Alligators Live?
Where do you find Alligators?
Where do Cheetahs Live?
Where to find Cheetahs?
What do Chimpanzees Eat?
Where do Elephants Live?
Where do Giraffes Live?
Where do Jaguars Live?
Where do Kangaroos Live?
Where do Koalas Live?
Where are Meerkats from?
Where do Peacocks Live?
Where do Manatees Live?
Where do Killer Whales Live?
Where do Lions Live?
Where do Pandas Live?
Where to find Jaguars?
Where do Rattlesnakes Live?
Where to find Snow leopards?
Where do Snow Leopards Live?
Where do Tigers Live?
Where do Wolves Live?
Where do Zebras Live?
Where to find Black Widows?
Where to find Dolphins?
Where to find Hummingbirds?
Where can you find Komodo Dragons?
Where to find Meerkats?
Where to find Ostrich?
Where to find Red Squirrels?
Who was Charles Darwin
Why are Pandas Endangered?
Why did the Saber-Toothed Tiger become Extinct?
Why do Elephants have Big Ears?
Why do Giraffes have Long Necks?
Why do Onions make you Cry?
Why do Leaves Change their Colour in the Autumn Fall
Why do Trees drop their Leaves in Autumn Fall
Why is the Sea Salty?
Why is the Sky Blue?
Wildlife
Wolf Conservation
Wolf Facts
World's Largest Insect
Zebra
Based on an article by http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-crocodile-and-an-alligator.htm
Photo care of http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-crocodile-and-an-alligator.htm and http://www.boredkillers.com/difference-between-alligator-and-crocodile/
No comments:
Post a Comment