Crocodile

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For other uses, see Crocodile (disambiguation).

Crocodiles

Temporal range: Eocene – Holocene, 55–

0 Ma

PreЄ

Pg

Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)

 Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Crocodilia

Family: Crocodylidae

Subfamily: Crocodylinae
Cuvier, 1807

Type species

Crocodylus niloticus

Laurenti, 1768

Genera

 Crocodylus
 Osteolaemus
  Mecistops (proposed)
 † Voay

Crocodiles (subfamily Crocodylinae) or true crocodiles are large aquatic reptiles that live
throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodylinae, all of whose
members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological subfamily. A broader sense of
the term crocodile, Crocodylidae that includes Tomistoma, is not used in this article. The term
crocodile here applies to only 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 the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), the gharial and false
gharial (family Gavialidae), and all other living and fossil Crocodylomorpha.
Although they appear similar, crocodiles, alligators and the gharial belong to separate
biological families. The gharial, with its narrow snout, is easier to distinguish,
while morphological differences are more difficult to spot in crocodiles and alligators. The most
obvious external differences are visible in the head, with crocodiles having narrower and longer
heads, with a more V-shaped than a U-shaped snout compared to alligators and caimans. Another
obvious trait is that the upper and lower jaws of the crocodiles are the same width, and the teeth in
the lower jaw fall along the edge or outside the upper jaw when the mouth is closed; therefore, all
teeth are visible, unlike an alligator, which possesses in the upper jaw small depressions into which
the lower teeth fit. Also, when the crocodile's mouth is closed, the large fourth tooth in the lower jaw
fits into a constriction in the upper jaw. For hard-to-distinguish specimens, the protruding tooth is the
most reliable feature to define the species' family.[1] Crocodiles have more webbing on the toes of the
hind feet and can better tolerate saltwater due to specialized salt glands for filtering out salt, which
are present, but non-functioning, in alligators. Another trait that separates crocodiles from other
crocodilians is their much higher levels of aggression.[2]
Crocodile size, morphology, behaviour and ecology differ somewhat among species. However, they
have many similarities in these areas as well. All crocodiles are semiaquatic and tend to congregate
in freshwater habitats such as rivers, lakes, wetlands and sometimes in brackish water
and saltwater. They are carnivorous animals, feeding mostly on vertebrates such
as fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, and sometimes on invertebrates such
as molluscs and crustaceans, depending on species and age. All crocodiles are tropical species
that, unlike alligators, are very sensitive to cold. They separated from other crocodilians during
the Eocene epoch, about 55 million years ago.[3] Many species are at the risk of extinction, some
being classified as critically endangered.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Species
 3Characteristics
o 3.1Size
o 3.2Teeth
 4Biology and behaviour
o 4.1Senses
 4.1.1Vision
 4.1.2Olfaction
 4.1.3Hearing
 4.1.4Touch
 o 4.2Hunting and diet
 4.2.1Bite
o 4.3Locomotion
o 4.4Longevity
o 4.5Social behaviour and vocalization
o 4.6Reproduction
o 4.7Cognition
 5Taxonomy and phylogeny
o 5.1Phylogeny
 6Relationship with humans
o 6.1Danger to humans
o 6.2Crocodile products
o 6.3In religion
o 6.4Crocodile tears
o 6.5The Surabaya Shark and Crocodile
o 6.6Crocodile (walking)
 7See also
 8References
 9Further reading
 10External links

Etymology
The word "crocodile" comes from the Ancient Greek κροκόδιλος (crocodilos), "lizard", used in the
phrase ho krokódilos tou potamoú, "the lizard of the (Nile) river". There are several variant Greek
forms of the word attested, including the later form κροκόδειλος (crocodeilos)[4] found cited in many
English reference works.[5] In the Koine Greek of Roman times, crocodilos and crocodeilos would
have been pronounced identically, and either or both may be the source of
the Latinized form crocodīlus used by the ancient Romans. Crocodilos or crocodeilos is a compound
of krokè ("pebbles"), and drilos/dreilos ("worm"), although drilos is only attested as a colloquial term
for "penis".[5] It is ascribed to Herodotus, and supposedly describes the basking habits of the
Egyptian crocodile.[6]
The form crocodrillus is attested in Medieval Latin.[5] It is not clear whether this is a medieval
corruption or derives from alternative Greco-Latin forms (late Greek corcodrillos and corcodrillion are
attested). A (further) corrupted form cocodrille is found in Old French and was borrowed into Middle
English as cocodril(le). The Modern English form crocodile was adapted directly from the Classical
Latin crocodīlus in the 16th century, replacing the earlier form. The use of -y- in the scientific
name Crocodylus (and forms derived from it) is a corruption introduced by Laurenti (1768).