Do you know crocodiles and alligators?

Crocodiles and alligators have always caught my attention. I never learned the difference between them, although I could always notice many differences between them, I could not differentiate them properly. For example, I could see the ugly teeth that protrude from the crocodiles’ jaws that can’t be seen on alligators. I also observed that, in movies and documentaries, the crocodiles were very aggressive in attacking their prey when they crossed the river.

Seeing this I wanted to do my own research to see what their differences were and this is what I was able to find out. If you like these animals, of course in nature, come and learn together with me about the differences between the two; it can probably make a difference when you see them again in a documentary on your television, from the tranquility of your home.

Crocodiles and alligators are not the same. They don't even have the same characteristics.

Nile crocodiles are the largest in the world. They measure up to 6 meters. They are able to eat a whole wildebeest and up to 200 human beings are eaten according to statistics in a year.

Nile crocodiles have a very bad reputation. They can eat half their weight in a single meal and they eat in groups with a lot of violence generally, while American crocodiles are solitary and eat alone. In contrast, alligators are carnivores of small animals and are not usually as violent as crocodiles.

The alligators are smaller in relation to the crocodile. They also fight each other for the right to mate, they do rituals to earn the right to the female. They make a sound under the water when they are going to mate that makes thousands of bubbles rise in the water, it is called the water dance, and males do it to seduce the female, after having won the fight with his rival.

Then the winner of the fight after his dance gets the female and is very loving with his partner. The female crocodile will make her nest and lay her eggs on the edge of the swamp and she is vigilant of her eggs until the young are born.

Crocodiles and alligators fiercely protect their young. For two months they have waited for them to be born and then when their young are born, they are placed in between his teeth in and taken to the water, where they take care of them for about a year while they grow.

Crocodiles are born with a sharp point in their mouth to break their shells, although their mother helps them if she sees them in trouble by the time they are born.

Baby alligators stay with their mother. The baby is no bigger than a frog. They have their own enemies in nature but their mother will protect them if they stay by her side.

Adult crocodiles can go up to a year without food, and their bodies waste away from the inside until they can manage to eat.

Alligators are abundant in the state of Florida. They are greater than crocodiles in number. And they can survive by eating small animals on the banks of the swamp.

Alligators can walk quickly on land as long as those are short distances because then they get tired and must return to the water. It opens its mouth to cool off, on the edge of the swamp. While the birds perch on his body and manage to clean the remains that remain in his mouth, between his sharp teeth.

Alligators have a wide “u” shaped snout while crocodiles have a thin “v” shaped snout.

Alligators have an upper jaw larger than the lower one and when they close their mouth their teeth are hidden, but the crocodile has its jaw the same size and when it closes its snout the teeth are out and can be seen.

Alligators are prepared to live in fresh water, their body cannot survive in salt water. While crocodiles have their bodies prepared to live in both waters, both sweet and salty.