|
Sculpture of ebony wood crocodile Crocodylus Survivors of the dinosaur age, crocodiles are found in the warmer waters of Africa, Asia, Australia, and America. Crocodiles are often confused with alligators, but you can tell them apart by the shape of their tapered snout, and by the way crocodiles' lower teeth stick out when their jaws are closed. Crocodiles vary in size. The saltwater crocodile measures up to 10 m in length, while others are no more than 1 m long. Hunted extensively for their skins, large crocodiles are becoming increasingly rare. They eat fish, birds, and mammals, including the occasional human. Crocodiles are cold-blooded. They like basking in the sun, in groups, with their mouths open. These groups usually consist of individuals who are the same size because crocodiles are cannibalistic, and large crocodiles will eat smaller ones. In contrast, crocodile birds (Pluvianus Aegypticus) wander freely among the basking creatures, picking leeches and parasites from their skins, and food fragments from their mouths.
|