What is a crocodilian?
Juvenile American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) Juvenile Cuvier’s dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus) Adult male saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) Adult Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) A crocodilian is any one of 23 species of large, carnivorous, semi-aquatic reptiles that live primarily in tropical and semi-tropical environments. Although the taxonomy varies, there are three families of crocodilians: alligatoridae (alligators and caimans), crocodylidae (“true crocodiles”) and gavialidae (gharial). Alligators and caimans (Alligatorids) possess a characteristically broad snout and upper jaws that normally overlap their lower jaws, hence hiding their lower teeth which fit into depressions in the upper jaw. Crocodylids have a more V-shaped snout in general, with both upper (maxillary) and lower (mandibular) teeth interdigitating outside the jaw (ie. in full view). Gavialids have the most slender (or longirostrine) jaw of any species, specially adapted to sweeping t
