Animal Diaries Archive

Is that a baby crocodile?

27 January 2006

One of the most commonly asked questions the croc team constantly answers on a daily basis is "What's the difference between a crocodile and an alligator?"

Often when we are walking around with our juvenile alligators people will say, "look at the baby crocodile!". The easiest way to tell a crocodile from an alligator is to look at the shape of the head. A crocodile has a wedge or 'V' shaped head compared to an alligator who has a rounded or 'U' shaped head. Another obvious difference is their temperament; if you see the croc team walking around with a scaly reptile with rear webbed feet and lots of teeth, chances are it's an alligator, because if we tried to walk around with a crocodile it would more than likely try to bite our fingers or hand off. This is because the crocodile has an aggressive nature whereas the alligator is normally more placid and docile. For those of you with an eye for detail, check out the bottom jaw of the crocodile or alligator - if you count back four teeth from the front of the jaw, the crocodile will always have a tooth that protrudes up and outside the top jaw - this tooth sits in a special groove in the top jaw and is exclusive to crocodiles only. Crocs and alligators RULE!