Sunday 23 June 2013

Crocodiles:

They are large aquatic tetra-pods that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodylinae, in which all its members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological subfamily. A broader sense of the term crocodile, Crocodylidae, that includes the tomistoma, was excluded in this article since new genetic studies reveal the possibility of tomistoma as a close relative of the gharial.This article applies the term crocodile only to the species within the subfamily of Crocodylinae. The term is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: which includes all members of Crocodylidae, including the tomistoma, the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae) and the gharials (family Gavialidae), and the rest of Crocodylomorpha, which includes all of the prehistoric crocodile relatives and ancestors.



A mature saltwater crocodile:


The saltwater crocodile  also known as saltie, estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile, is the largest of all living reptiles, as well as the largest terrestrial and riparian predator in the world. The males of this species can reach sizes of up to 7 m (23 ft) and weigh as much as 2,000 kg (4,400 lb). However, an adult male saltwater crocodile is generally between 4.3 and 5.2 m (14 and 17 ft) in length and weighs 400–1,000 kg (880–2,200 lb), rarely growing larger. Females are much smaller and often do not surpass 3 m (9.8 ft). As its name implies, this crocodile can live in salt water, but usually resides in mangrove swamps, estuaries, deltas, lagoons, and lower stretches of rivers. They have the broadest distribution of any modern crocodile, ranging from the eastern coast of India, throughout most of Southeast Asia, stretching south to northern Australia, and historically ranging as far west as off the eastern coast of Africa and as far east as waters off of Japan.

CROCODILIAN SPECIES LIST:


Alligator mississippiensis: 



      
 Common name:   AMERICAN ALLIGATOR
 Distribution:        Southeast United States
                     

Alligator sinensis:




Common name:       CHINESE ALLIGATOR
Eastern Chinaame: CHINESE ALLIGATOR


 Caiman crocodilus:

Common name:  SPECTACLED CAIMAN  
Distribution:        Central & South America








Caiman latirostris:


Common name:    BROAD-SNOUTED CAIMAN
Distribution:         South America

Caiman yacare:




Common name:    JACARÉCAIMAN 
Distribution:         South America

Melanosuchus niger:




Common name:     BLACKCAIMAN
Distribution:          South America

Paleosuchus palpebrosus: 



Common name:   CUVIER'S DWARF CAIMAN 
Distribution:        South America
 
Paleosuchus trigonatus:



Common name:  SCHNEIDER'S DWARF CAIMAN
Distribution:       South America


 Crocodylus acutus:




Common name:
  AMERICAN CROCODILE 
Distribution:        North, Central & South America

Crocodylus cataphractus:

Slender-snouted crocodile Common name:    SLENDER-SNOUTED CROCODILE
Distribution:                                                      Africa




Crocodylus intermedius:



Common name:
      ORINOCO CROCODILE 
Distribution:           South America

 Crocodylus johnstoni:









Common name:   AUSTRALIAN FRESHWATER CROCODILE 
Distribution:        Australia













































































0 comments:

Post a Comment