How to distinguish between Crocodile and Alligator

After sharing the interesting facts about Crocodiles in my earlier blog, I thought it might be better to clear some doubts people have over Crocodiles and Alligators. Though both seem to similar visually there are are basic difference between the two. 

In taxonomy Crocodiles and Alligators are both grouped under the same reptilian order Crocodylia. But they belong to two different families viz Crocodylidae and Alligatoridae. There are another family called Gavialidaewhich includes the Gharials. 

Following are the basic differences between Crocodiles and Alligators:

The snout of an alligator is much larger, wider and u shaped. On the other hand the snout of the crocodile is V shaped and more pointed. The ability to crush anything is better in alligators than in crocs.

The nostril of a crocodile is much bigger compared to Alligators.

The skin color of Alligator is much darker compared to Crocodiles. Crocodiles generally are of lighter shade.

The teeth of Crocodiles are much sharper than Alligators. When the mouth is closed you can the teeth of crocodile but in case of alligators the teeth are hidden inside their mouth.

The animals of order Crocodylia is originated even before the dinosaurs and they have gone through very little change during these mllion years. There are total 23 species in this Order.

So now if you come face to face with a Crocodile or an Alligator you will easy differentiate between the two. 

Crocodiles: Some interesting Facts

In the interesting facts series today's edition  is Crocodiles.

The word crocodile comes from Greek word crocodilos meaning lizards of the Nile. They are closely related to birds and mammals than to reptiles.

 The largest species of crocodile(salt water crocodile) is of 7 meter in length while the smallest one(the dwarf crocodile) is 1.5 meter. 

The Nile crocodile are the largest reptilian predator on earth.

Though we associate crocodiles with water, they can hunt in both aquatic as well as terrestrial soundings. 

They can achieve a speed of 17 kph on land.

Unlike other reptiles they have 4 chambered heart and cerebral cortex.

They can excrete sweat through their mouth. This behavior can be seen when they stay in the river banks with mouths wide open.

The teeth are meant to grab they prey rather than to chew. They can grow new teeth in place of old teeth all life long.

The diet of a crocodile can be very diverse. They mostly eat fishes, amphibians, birds, mammals, molluscs, crustaceans and some time even crocodiles also. They have the most acidic stomach than any vertebrate. They can digest even horns, hooves, bones etc. Crocodiles can eat their prey above as well as under water.

Their jaws are very powerful. The jaw is covered with sensory pits, it is believe to be of same purpose like the lateral line in fishes.  The muscles which opens and closes their jaws are very different in nature. While closing jaws they generate enormous power(they have the strongest bite force for any living creature) but the opening of the jaw have very little strength. You can prevent it from opening even with a rubber band.

Crocodiles shed tears during feasting.

The tail of the crocodile can exert tremendous amount of power. It is also helps them in swimming.

They can keep their eyes open in water. They possess nictitating membrane which protect their eyes under water.

Though seems to be visually similar, Crocodiles, Alligators and Gharials are different animals.

They lay eggs in the land. The egg size of the crocodiles are not proportionate to their sizes their sizes are same as of a goose.

They have a very well developed sense of smell .

They are cold blooded animal and need the sun to warm themselves up.

They are ambush predators. Generally they don’t chase their prey. They are the most social animals among the reptiles and sometimes hunt cooperatively.  

Life span of a crocodile can be up to 80 years.

The skin in the back of a crocodile is covered with bones. These are very hard and can even reflect bullets. The skin on their belly is much softer and many tribal societies this skin is referred as a symbol of status.

Thanks for reading. Check out more interesting facts about other animals on our archive section.

Gorilla: The Largest Primate In The World

It has been quite some time since I have discussed the apes ingeneral. Now it is time to be more specific. I have already shared interesting facts about Chimps now its turn for the Biggest primate the GORILLA.

 

Scientific name: Gorilla gorilla

The word Gorilla comes from the Greek word Gorillai meaning the tribe of hairy women. There are several species in the group of the Gorillas. Western low-land Gorillas, Cross river Gorillas, mountain Gorillas eastern lowland Gorillas are some of the species that included in the group.

Gorillas show sexual dimorphism i.e, male and female Gorilla differs very much by size and appearance that you can differentiate the two very easily. A adult male Gorilla can weight up to 600 lbs where as a female Gorilla can be up to 200 to 300 lbs.

They are the largest group of primates in the world.

They are knuckle walkers and use four limbs while walking. Though they are capable of bipedal walking like humans.

They move every day in search of food. They donot sleep in the same nest twice in a row. Every time they built a new one.Though their sense organs are highly developed they cannot distinguish between colors.

This group of primates are mostly vegetarian. They sometimes eat slugs and insect but don’t eat meat. Due to the vegetarian habitat their stomach size is far more bigger than their chest size. 

They hardly drink water.

The lower jaw of Gorillas are more protruded than their upper jaw.

They are social animal and live in a group of 5 to 9. They general are not aggressive as portrayed by people but if provoked they can be very dangerous.

The newborn Gorilla are capable of walking with in 5 months from its birth. But they prefer to stay with their mothers till 2.5 years.

They are next closest relatives to humans after Bonobos and Chimpanzees. Their DNA is 98% similar to that of humans. Gorillas have 10 fingers and 10 toes like humans. They also have 32 teeth. Every Gorilla’s finger print is unique, just like humans.

The upper body strength of a Gorilla is 6 times more than a human. They have very well developed arms and muscles.

The silverback is not a different species of Gorilla rather at around 12 years of age the male Gorilla develops some silver coloring on their back. They are the mature males of the group and they are the leader of the group. They also grow canine teeth.

The life span of Gorillas can be up to 35-50 years. Leopards and Crocodiles are known to prey on Gorillas.

The Gorillas are grouped in the endangered and critically endangered animals in IUCN red list.

So you are now aware of some of the interesting facts about the “King-Kong”. Now watching the movie will be much more enjoyable than it was before. Thanks for reading. We will covers some other animals in the my later blogs.

Turtles: The adorable & Unique Animal

This article is about turtle which should not be confused with Tortoises. There are some differences between turtles and tortoises. Turtles primarily live in water are omnivorous and have flippers or webbed feet. Whereas tortoise live only in land, are herbivorous and do not have any flipper or webbed feet.

Turtles are one of the oldest reptile group i.e, much more ancient than Lizards, Snakes or Crocodiles and are characterized by a special bony or cartilaginous shell which acts as a shield. The earliest known turtle date from 220 million years ago. 

They can vary in sizes and weights. The smallest turtle species measured to be not more than 8cm and weighing 140gm where as the largest one reported to be 200cm and weights 900kg. A group of turtles is known as a “bale”.

Turtles are cold blooded animals i.e, their internal body temperature varies according to the environment.

Though most of the species live in water, they need air for breathing and needs to come to land to lay eggs.

Turtles in general have huge numbers of rod cells in their retina due to which they have exceptional night vision.

Turtles do not have any teeth instead upper and lower jaws of turtles have horny ridges. As turtles can be both carnivores as well as herbivores, the ridges differs according to their food habits. Unlike most reptiles turtles cannot stick out their tongues to catch prey rather they use it to swallow food. They have sharp beak for catching prey.

 

Instead of feet the turtles have flippers which help them to swim in water. Sea turtle can generate a swimming speed of 35 miles per hour. Some amphibian turtles have webbed feet instead of flipper due to their continuous interaction with both land and water.

The most unique part of a turtle’s body is its shell. The inner layer of a turtle's shell is made up of bones that include portions of the backbone and the ribs. That is why the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell. The upper portion of the shell is called carapace where as the lower portion is called plastron.

The color of a turtle's shell may vary from brown, black, or olive green(in most of the cases) to  having red, orange, yellow, or grey markings(in some species), there are often spots, lines, or irregular blotches are also found in the shells.With contrast to tortoises, the turtles have lighter shells. This helps them to swim faster with much more agility and not get sink in the water. It has been reported that turtle shell can act as pH buffer also.

Like snakes turtles also molt their skin. But unlike snakes they do not molt their skins all at once, but continuously, in small pieces.

The mother turtle does not participate in any form of parental care. Large numbers of eggs are deposited in holes dug into mud or sand. They are then covered and left to incubate by themselves. In some species the temperature determines the sex(higher temperature means female turtle where as low temperature results in male turtles) of the new born baby turtles. When the turtles hatch, they squirm their way to the surface and head toward the water. Only 1 or 2 out of 1000 turtles hatch ling grow to adulthood.

The turtle eggs have some peculiarities when compared with our well known bird’s eggs. The albumen portion of the eggs contains different protein and so it does not coagulate when cooked. 

Recently almost all of the sea turtle are included in the endangered species of animals. Let us take some steps to save these beautiful and unique creatures.

Hope you enjoyed the article. Thanks for reading.

Polar Bears: Some Unknown Facts

Earlier I have shared some interesting facts abut Penguins which lives in the Antarctic. Today I will share some facts about an inhabitant of the other part of the globe The Polar Bears, which live predominantly in the Arctic circle.

The scientific name of polar bear is Ursus maritimus. Which means maritime bear. As they live mostly in the water.

They have developed several adaptation features for living in the arctic circle.The body of a polar bear is covered by 10 cm thick blabber which protect them from cold weather. Large furry feet and short, sharp, stocky claws giving it good traction on ice.

The fur which seems to us as white is originally not white. It is hollow and reflects light and thus seems as white. 

They don’t drink water. They get the supply of liquid from their prey.

Polar bear is the world’s largest land predator. They have fantastic sense of smell and can detect seals from more 1.5 km away. They also have a good sense of hearing and vision.

They show very explicit sexual dimorphism. A male can grow up to 11 feet and weigh over 1500 lbs whereas females are just half of their size. A newborn is very light(one lb in weight) when compared to mature sizes. The male bear called Boar, the female called sow.

Polar bear builds den with multiple rooms to live as well as with ventilation systems. They reach hibernation like state in the den. Unlike other mammals the body temperature does not decrease during this state but the heart rate slows down considerably.

Polar bear mainly eats seals. They hunt primarily at the interface between ice, water and air. After eating its prey, they clean themselves using water or snow. A liver of a polar bear is so enriched in vitamin A that it is poisonous to human being if eaten.

Polar bear can swim at a pace of 6 mile per hour. But they can can swim up to 100 miles at a stretch. They don’t have any paddle or flipper they swim using their forepaws for propulsion. They can run at a speed up to 40 km/h.

There are no chance that a polar bear and a penguin can ever meet as they live in the opposite ends of the earth. The Greek word for bear is arctic. So Antarctic(where most of the penguins live) literally mans a place where there is no bear. Like penguins, most polar bear born on the land but spend most of their life at sea. 

Unlike Grizzly Bear they are not territorial by nature.

The life expectancy of a polar bear is 25 years.

Only human hunts polar bears. There are no other predator known who hunt them.

They are classified under vulnerable species under IUCN. It is predicted that by 2050 two third of the population will be lost due to global warming and other man made pollutions.

Hope you enjoyed the article. Thanks for reading.