Wednesday

If you swim with crocodiles....


Made a household name by Steve Irwin, the saltwater crocodile is the largest reptile on earth today!  But did you know that there are three types of croc in the crocodile family? 

  • the true crocodile (like the salty)
  • the alligator and caiman
  • the gharial (gavial)

Are they all dangerous?  Take a look at the sign above, posted in Australia...humans and crocodiles just don't mix.  Even the smallest, the caiman, can give a vicious bite!

Do they look a lot alike?  You bet they do.  So we are going to use Identification Keys (IKs) to see the differences between them, and when we're done, you should be able to tell a gator from a croc from a gharial, no problem!

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