PART II 



THE ORDER CROCODILIA— CROCODILES 

 AND ALLIGATORS 



Living in the warmer parts of the globe, in areas 

 synonymous with tropical vegetation, swamps or slug- 

 gish water-ways and a humid atmosphere, are the giants 

 among reptiles — the Crocodilians. Ponderous, lizard- 

 like creatures, coated above with a rough armor of bony 

 plates, they cause the great majority of reptile life 

 around them to appear insignificant — almost parasitic in 

 proportions. Some of the crocodilians attain a length of 

 twenty feet — one species, thirty feet. Of direct, an- 

 cient lineage, they furnish us with a hint of the gigantic 

 forms of reptile life once existing. Ages ago croco- 

 diles and alligators were generally distributed through- 

 out the world; the zone of decadence is now marked 

 by rock-bound fossils in the temperate regions, giving 

 way to the living representatives which have survived 

 within that band of our globe embraced by the semi- 

 tropical parallels — and though a few species stray out 

 of this area, their distribution follows low coastal regions 

 warmed by currents from the tropics. 



Without exception, the crocodilians are amphibious 

 and provided with a powerful tail that is flattened 

 toward its terminal half. The feet are of practically 

 no use in swimming, being folded against the side while 

 lateral undulations of the tail send the animal rapidly 

 through the water. As the crocodilian floats near the 

 surface, with the top of the head alone above water, 



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