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Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia.The term “crocodile” is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans (both members of the family Alligatoridae), the gharial and false gharial (both ...
The crocodile was one of several animals the Egyptians mummified. [171] West African peoples also associated crocodiles with water deities. During the Benin Empire, crocodiles symbolised the power of the oba (king) and linked him to the life-giving rivers. [172] The Leviathan described in the Book of Job may have been based on a crocodile. [173]
Three extant crocodilian species clockwise from top-left: saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), and gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) Crocodilia is an order of mostly large, predatory , semiaquatic reptiles , which includes true crocodiles , the alligators , and caimans ; as well as the gharial ...
† Crocodylus anthropophagus is an extinct crocodile from Plio-Pleistocene of Tanzania. † Crocodylus checchiai is an extinct crocodile from Late Miocene of Kenya. † Crocodylus falconensis is an extinct crocodile from Early Pliocene of Venezuela. † Crocodylus palaeindicus is an extinct crocodile the Miocene to the Pleistocene of southern ...
Cladistically, it is defined as Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile crocodile) and all crocodylians more closely related to C. niloticus than to either Alligator mississippiensis (the American alligator) or Gavialis gangeticus (the gharial). [5] This is a stem-based definition for crocodiles, and is more inclusive than the crown group Crocodylidae. [3]
Crocodiles are protected in many parts of the world, and are farmed commercially. Their hides are tanned and used to make leather goods such as shoes and handbags; crocodile meat is also considered a delicacy. [169] The most commonly farmed species are the saltwater and Nile crocodiles.
The only order-level taxon that is currently considered valid is Crocodilia in its present definition. Prehistoric crocodiles are represented by many taxa, but since few major groups of the ancient forms are distinguishable, a conclusion on how to define new order-level clades is not yet possible. (Benson & Clark, 1988).
The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. . Mature females are 2.6 to 4.5 m (8 ft 6 in to 14 ft 9 in) long, and males 3 to 6 m (9 ft 10 in to 19 ft 8