The alligator and its allies . •^-^ / ^ CROCODILES. Fig. I. Map Showing Present Distribution of Crocodilia. (After Gadow.) Crocodilia are found in all of the great continen-tal areas except Europe; mainly in the tropical orsubtropical regions. The alligator is found in the southwestern UnitedStates and in China. The crocodile is the most numerous in speciesand is the most widely distributed of the is especially characteristic of Africa and Mada-gascar, but is found also in Florida, Mexico, Cen-tral and South America, the West Indies, SouthAsia, the East Indies, and Australia. The gavi
The alligator and its allies . •^-^ / ^ CROCODILES. Fig. I. Map Showing Present Distribution of Crocodilia. (After Gadow.) Crocodilia are found in all of the great continen-tal areas except Europe; mainly in the tropical orsubtropical regions. The alligator is found in the southwestern UnitedStates and in China. The crocodile is the most numerous in speciesand is the most widely distributed of the is especially characteristic of Africa and Mada-gascar, but is found also in Florida, Mexico, Cen-tral and South America, the West Indies, SouthAsia, the East Indies, and Australia. The gavial is found in India and some of the is-lands of the Orient, especially Borneo and Sumatra. The caiman occurs in southern Mexico, Centraland South Fig. 2. Heads of American Alligator and American Crocodile;Alligator on Left. (After Ditmars.) (Reproduced by Permission of Sturgis & Walton Co.) The Biology of the Crocodilia 7 The distribution of individual forms will bementioned again when they are discussed in detail. Alligator Mississippiensis Since this animal, generally known as theAmerican or the Florida alligator (formerly ), is the one upon which most of the factsof this book are based, it will be discussed first. At this point it may be well to answer the ques-tion that is sure to be asked by someone early inany conversation upon the Crocodilia. The writer,and doubtless every other zoologist, has been askedcountless times, What is the difference betweenan alligator and a crocodile? As a matter offact there is, perhaps, no absolute distinction be-tween the two groups, but there are certain fea-tures that make it easy to distinguish, say, betweenthe American alligator and the American crocodile. The most striking
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