CLASS REPTILIA 549 



or partly under water. The American crocodile is not dangerous 

 to man. 



The African crocodile, Crocodilus niloticus (Fig. 451), is one 

 of the few man-eating species, and has probably destroyed more 

 human beings than any other kind of wild animal in the dark 

 continent. Formerly it was held sacred by the Egyptians, and 

 many specimens were preserved as mummies. 



The other nine species of the genus Crocodilus live in various 

 parts of the world — C. intermedins, the Orinoco crocodile, in 

 Venezuela ; C. rhombifer, the Cuban crocodile, in Cuba ; 

 C. moreletti, the Guatemala crocodile, in Guatemala and 

 Honduras; and the others in Africa, Australia, Siam, Java, 

 India, Malaysia, or Madagascar. The salt-water crocodile, 

 C. porosus, which occurs in India and Malaysia, is a man- 

 eating species. 



The five species of caimans occur in Central and tropical 

 South America. The spectacled caiman, Caiman sclerops-, 

 ranges from southern Mexico southward into Argentina. It 

 reaches a length of eight feet. The largest American crocodile 

 is the black caiman, Caiman niger, of the upper Amazon. 

 Some of these animals are said to be twenty feet long. 



There are two species of the genus Alligator; the American 

 alligator, A. mississippiensis, inhabits the southeastern United 

 States; and the Chinese alligator, A. sinensis, is found only in 

 China. The American alligator has a broad, blunt snout, and 

 is stouter, less active, and less vicious than the crocodiles. It 

 attains a length of sixteen feet, but most of the large specimens 

 have been killed for their hides, so that probably none now exist 

 in the wild state over twelve feet long. The habits of the alli- 

 gator are similar to those of the crocodile. The nest is a mound 

 of earth and rotting vegetation. From twenty to forty eggs are 

 deposited in this nest and left to hatch without any assistance 

 from the parents. 



The Chinese alligator inhabits the Yangtse-Kiang River of 

 China. It is only six feet long. 



