Kids > American Crocodile
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American crocodilesare giant reptiles that live on land and in salty water. Sometimes male crocs grow to be 21 feet long!
- Crocodilians were alive
before the dinosaurs. They survived the dinosaur extinctions by adjusting or "adapting" to hard times. They became tougher and stronger.
- American crocodiles are covered with heavy, olive brown or gray
scales, which give them a rough, pebbly look and make them hard to see in mud or water. The bony scales on their backs and heads are called "scutes."
- An American croc has 66 sharp, cone-shaped
teethattached to the outside of its jaw. Croc teeth break off easily and grow back quickly. A single croc may grow 3000 teeth!
- American crocs have silvery
eyeswith vertical pupils and three eyelids, like cats' eyes.
- Most reptile
heartshave three chambers. Crocodile hearts have four chambers, like mammals and birds.
- Crocodiles are
poikilothermic. This word means
cold-blooded.
- Crocs are powerful
swimmersand can hold their breath for twenty minutes. A bony plate separates a croc's nose from its mouth so it can breathe with a mouth full of water.
- Crocodiles are
intelligent. It's hard to catch the same crocodile in the same trap twice.
- Mother crocodiles lay 40 eggs at a time in
nestsmade of mud, leaves, twigs, and grass. Mothers help babies hatch and protect them for weeks after they are born. Hatchlings must learn to hunt and swim, and they follow their mothers around like ducklings.
- Crocodiles
growl, roar, hiss, and squeak. When they mate, they purr.
- Crocodiles eat fish, turtles, crabs, birds, and mammals. They
swallow prey whole after shaking it to death or drowning it.
- Crocs can't chew, so they swallow rocks to help grind up bones, shells, and fur in their stomachs. Rocks also help crocs stay submerged in water--all but their eyes and nostrils.
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