Preview

Alligator Vs Crocodile Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
576 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Alligator Vs Crocodile Essay
When it comes to animals, more than half the population has no knowledge of how to differentiate between each species. It is difficult to differentiate between species that are similar to one another. For example, alligators and crocodiles are often mistaken to be the same species. Coming face to face with a crocodile or an alligator, you'd see a mouth full of serrated teeth that would likely frighten you. The two reptile groups are close relatives, so their physical similarities are expected. Besides being close relatives, crocodiles and alligators also share a common habitat and diet, while having physical differences as well as similarities. Alligators and crocodiles are not only both reptiles, but they both share a common ancestor (North Carolina Aquariums). They both belong to an animal family called the crocodylidae. Both crocodiles and alligators have existed relatively unchanged for the last 55 million years, and they have similar ancestors that first appeared 200 million years ago. This means that they have existed since the time of the dinosaurs. Aside from some small evolutionary changes, both animal species have changed little since they first appeared on earth. Alligators are not usually dangerous to humans …show more content…
They are cold-blooded animals that utilize little energy when they move. They cannot regulate their own internal body temperature, and must rely on external heat sources such as the sun. They also do not have to eat as much or as often as mammals and other warm-blooded animals, despite the fact that alligators and crocodiles are known for their carnivorous eating habits. As reptiles, both animals have tough, scaly hide. According to Bryner, crocodiles have longer and thinner snouts than alligators. The teeth of a crocodile are visible, even when the crocodile's mouth is closed, while alligator teeth are invisible until the mouth is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Inner Fish Chapter Summary

    • 5067 Words
    • 21 Pages

    2. The fossil Tiktaalik has a flat head with eyes on top, it is similar to an alligator. Tiktaalik also looks like a fish because of the scales and fins. This fossil confirms prediction because the fish contains a part of us.…

    • 5067 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Biol 1020 Final Exam Review

    • 5739 Words
    • 23 Pages

    ← analogous – unrelated organisms with similar structures due to being exposed to similar environments (different cacti, sharks, dolphins)…

    • 5739 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    climate in Florida allows many types of reptiles to thrive. While most of those reptiles are native…

    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    303 Bio Study Guide

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Organisms that are closely related to each other will share some features with all other organisms and share some features only with organisms from this same group.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over much time, evolution through natural selection has given both of these lizards similar characteristics which help them survive in harsh desert conditions. They have developed pointed heads and flattened duck-bill snouts for burrowing and diving into the sand, enlarged scales…

    • 176 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    There are many animals in the world. Some of them as small as ants and some are even bigger than elephants. These animals live throughout the world, some in the gigantic oceans, some in the coldest of Antarctica or some in the hottest of deserts. These are the classes of animals, mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and insect. Reptiles are cold-blooded vertebrates. They have dry skin covered with scales or bony plates, and they usually lay eggs. Reptiles can be classified into three groups, turtles, snakes, and lizards. There are lots of species of turtles, like the sea turtle who live in the oceans. They can be identified by their long, streamlined shell and their color range of olive-green, yellow, greenish-brown, reddish-brown, or black.…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Texas Horned Lizard Essay

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Along with being found in the same habitat the Bobwhite Quail and Texas Horned lizard are both found at the bottom of the food chain. These two animals are prey items for a very wide array of animals. Bobwhite nests are commonly predated upon and this is why the nesting cover aspect of the habitat management is so important. Habitat managers are now even able to determine what animals are predating Bobwhite nests by how the eggs are broken and/or arranged after being eaten (Hernandez et al 1997). A well known avian predator, the Roadrunner (Geococcyx) is known to eat just about anything including Texas Horned Lizards and Bobwhite Quail eggs making it an arch enemy of many ranchers (Sherbrooke 1990). One of the most brutal predators these animals face is the Shrike (Laniidae) commonly called the “Butcher Bird”. This is because it impales its prey onto barbwire, cactus,…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    APES Questions & Answers

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Within our food web of Salt Water Marshes, located specifically in Virginia, there is a symbiotic relationship between the American Alligator and other organisms whose survival is dependent on the water they live in. During dry seasons, gator holes fill up with water, and could be one of the only locations with water. All the organisms, dependent on the water go to those holes for that water supply, it is mutual!…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    blood to all its major organs(Everglades, 2012). The American Alligator has become well adapted to…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I love animals from the big to the small and everything in between but they’re all different in some way and others are completely different like reptiles and amphibians and mammals and the like but they’re also all the same in some way, what if someone compared them someway?...…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cold and warm blooded terms are terms used throughout science to explain the way an animal regulate their body temperature. Terms used to explain warm and cold blood animals are: endothermic, ectothermic, homoeothermic, and poikilothermic. These four terms help to describe what warm and cold blooded mean. Endothermic animals regular their body temperature from the inside their…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When I first read the title of the story, my mind went in all directions as to what it could be about, besides the obvious, lobsters. Although, in the first few passages the author talks about how smelly the Main Lobster Festival is, how hot the weather was, how long the lines were, and discusses lobster biology in great detail; with this start to his article you think you are going to read only about this festival and what it all entails. Almost like it is an advertisement to get people to show up.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cats Vs Dogs Essay

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Dogs are one of the most loved household pets and for good reasons. Dogs require a little bit more maintenance than cats. Dogs like to please their owners while cats are more self-centered and only care about themselves. When it comes to which one is smarter it depends on the methods used to measure it.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Venomous Lizard

    • 1846 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Lizards belong to the class Reptilian, Scientists have said that reptiles have been on earth for about 200 hundred million years. Lizards are the largest group of reptiles with more than 4300 species around the world. Lizards are found in sub-tropical and tropical regions of the world. Lizards come in different shapes and sizes. Most of the lizards are quite small have four legs and have a fragile tail that can regenerate when part of it is gone. They look similar to salamanders. Lizards are ectoderms meaning they cold blooded, meaning they depend on outside sources like the sun, to raise and maintain their body temperatures. Eating habits for lizards is very different, it depends on the species. Some lizards feed on iguanas which are insects, some eat rodents, and some eat both rodents and insects. Lizards use their teeth to scare predators off as protection. Very few lizards happen to be poisonous and use their venom as a defence. Other species of lizards rely on camouflage such as the chameleon that is able to change its colour according to its surroundings, as a defensive strategy. Females of most lizard species lay eggs and then are usually left to hatch on their own. The most well-known venomous lizards are the Gila monster and he Mexican Beaded Lizard. They are found in Mexico and south west of United States. These lizards are classified in the Family Helodermatidae which has one genus containing only these two species. Both of these lizards have been known as the only venomous lizards for a long time. But more recently discoveries have been made that there are more…

    • 1846 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    pockets in the upper jaw. On land they are very clumsy and cumbersome. In water…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays