【Reptile】(I), croc and gator

        Hanging around in the Reptile Zoo for several hours last weekend, had several hundreds shots in the camera, 70 or so keepers.  I am planning to make 3 posts, crocodilians for the first one, followed by lizzards and snakes.
       

       Anyone knows the difference of crocodile, alligator, and caiman？

       Although they have important similarities that they differentiate from other reptiles, crocodiles, caimans and alligators are three distinct species.  In terms of scientific classification, these three species belong to the order Crocodilians ( Crocodilia). The alligator and the caiman belong to the Alligatoridae family ( Alligatoridae ) while the crocodile belongs to the Crocodilidae family ( Crocodylidae ).

      Here I only discuss the appearances. In the natural environment, it is possible to easily recognize these oviparous and carnivorous reptiles thanks to the shape of their jaw and their skull: the crocodile has a thinner and long snout, V-shaped unlike, and the caiman which has broad a U-shaped jaw. Another difference: in the crocodile, the fourth tooth of the lower jaw protrudes when the mouth is closed, becoming lodged in a notch in the upper jaw and visible leaving.  Crocodiles are larger than alligators and caimans, their average size is 4 meters, while it is only 3.4 meters for alligators.  The largest crocodile is the Saltwater crocodile, record length reached 6 meters, the largest Nile crocodile recorded is 5.5 meters. The weight of a crocodile increases approximately cubically as length increases.

 

1. American alligator，size:  2.4-3.7 meters，longest record 4.9 meters

2.

3. Alligator gar ，North American local species, carnivorous fish

4.Cuvier's dwarf caiman，the smallest living crocodilian, though called dwarf, they ain't tiny，normal size:1.2-1.5 meters，the longest one can reach 1.8 meters.

5.

6.

7. Nile crocodile, longest record 5.5 meters

8.

9.

10.

11.  This one is a question, I didn't find its name plate, it is smaller than the dwarf caiman. Want to identify whether it belongs to Crocodylidae or Alligatoridae according to the description at the top?

12.

13.

14.Blanding's turtle

15. Sulcata tortoise

16.  I could not help to give big thumb-ups to this elementary first grader who read each animal's description, never stumbled or halted by new word.

This is what the description looks like that the little boy read.

17. Sulcata tortoise

Below are some scary big bugs, not reptile. 

18.

19.

20.

所有跟帖： 

• Wow! what a difference between yours and mine (under APAD)! -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 16:31:53

• I would like to find a hole to hide now :-))) -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 16:33:01

• the advanced glass makes difference, I can't be any better -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 16:48:43

• if I only use a phone -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 16:49:48

• I like #6 theBest; but #10 makes it look like Maowi the cat -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 16:40:26

• with its gentle eye :-) -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 16:40:59

• monster of a gentle eye? -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 16:53:12

• haha. I can talk to most cats, and calm most dogs, -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 17:00:24

• but I 'd stay far away from these, and run from snakes ;-) -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 17:02:07

• cold-blooded creatures only go by instinct -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 17:06:29

• 11. it belongs to Crocodylidae.对吗？现学现卖：）我去佛罗里达看过鳄鱼，坐在船上， -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:16:00

• 离鳄鱼两米远近距离看鳄鱼，应该是Alligator。 -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:17:12

• 鳄鱼两米远近距离看你: 应该是 MYSJ 妖妖灵 :-))) -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:23:09

• 是Alligator建造的佛州沼泽湿地。对佛州地理有重要影响，如今被生态被缅甸巨蟒威胁-被人当宠物又不负责任地放生 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:54:36

• Salt Croc在澳洲，太平洋岛链。croc在非洲非洲。gator 是北美产物 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:58:36

• Caiman 也是淡水鳄鱼 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:00:44

• 那么多Python bivittatus怎么办？好奇查了查，它没有天敌啊 -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:10:42

• 见过一个诡异的照片+视频，一条巨蟒死了，身体从中间断开，断开处一条大鳄鱼死在它胃里。 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:17:14

• 太吓人了，它的嘴得有多大，撑S的？ -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:24:08

• 蛇帖中我有个照片，500lbs重的巨蟒，头看着不过成人拳头大，但有弹性，能吞进比它粗好几倍的物体，好在这东西不会一日三餐 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:27:54

• 我看了半天也觉得是某种，Croc, 或者是某种young croc -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:56:54

• 按照理论 crocodile, the 4th 2th of the lower jaw protrudes嵌入上颌缺口 -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:15:29

• Blanding's turtle = a python's head&neck on a fancy body. -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:21:29

• Python‘s head&neck on an armor～ -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:22:12

• That's the prettiest turtle I've seen -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:32:19

• 17那张照得角度光线取景完美得就像假的一样：）最后一张是微距摄影吗？大蜘蛛？ -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:22:19

• 不是，后一帖大蜥蜴里有一张微距，临时换的镜头 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 18:55:30

• every one is super. so sharp. like number 17 best. -天边一片白云- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:25:15

• Must be its basking spot, it moved a lot previously. -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 19:50:43

• 哈哈，学习了“晒太阳的地方”（basking spot，这词儿你以前就会？），乌龟智商一定高，不然的话怎么赢了兔子：） -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 20:07:00

• 鱼缸养turtle必须给它放一块basking block, 否则它体温低了新陈代谢就停止了，不吃不动，宠物店有卖 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/17/2024 postreply 20:11:32

• 花木兄的照片真是太棒了，如此清晰，相机一定也是高档的，很享受！我就不去动脑子区分了：） -暖冬cool夏- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/18/2024 postreply 09:20:03

• gear does matter, but the person matters more -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/18/2024 postreply 15:53:51