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COLLEGE ZOOLOGY 



Figure 294. The American crocodile. Note pointed snout, laterally compressed tail, webbed 

 hindfeet, 5 toes in front and 4 behind, and claws on 3 inner digits. This is the largest known 

 crocodile, reaching a length of 23 feet. (Courtesy of N.Y. Zoological Society.) 



Figure 295. The American alligator. Snout blunt, not pointed as in the crocodile. Natural 

 size up to 16 feet long. (Courtesy of N.Y. Zoological Society.) 



(Fig. 295) inhabits the southeastern part 

 of the United States; and the Chinese alH- 

 gator is found only in China. 



Venomous (poisonous) reptiles 



Very few reptiles are poisonous. All turtles 

 are nonvenomous. Only one species of lizard 

 and 19 species of poisonous snakes live in 

 the United States. 



Gila monsters 



This poisonous "beaded" lizard (Fig. 296) 

 inhabits parts of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and 



New Mexico. It is black and conspicuously 

 spotted with pink or orange. A large speci- 

 men measures about two feet. The bite is 

 fatal to small animals and dangerous to man. 

 The venom of the Gila monster is as strong 

 a poison as that of some of the venomous 

 snakes, but the mechanism for injecting it 

 into the body of an animal is less effi- 

 cient. 



Venomous snakes 



Among the venomous snakes that it seems 

 desirable to mention, besides those that oc- 

 cur in the United States, are the sea snakes 



