GENERAL CHARACTERS 



13 



question that has been asked a countless number of times) 

 consists chiefly in the shape of the head, and the manner in 

 which the teeth are placed in the lower jaw. The typical 

 crocodile has a narrow, triangular head, terminating in a 

 rounded point. The head of an alligator is broad, with 

 almost parallel sides, and at the end it is broadly rounded off. 



1. GAVIAL. 2. ORINOCO 

 CROCODILE. 



3. FLORIDA 

 CROCODILE. 



4. INDIAN 

 CROCODILE. 



5. MISSISSIPPI 

 ALLIGATOR. 



The canine tooth in the lower jaw of a crocodile fits on the 

 outside of the upper jaw, in a notch close behind the nostrils; 

 whereas in the alligator the same tooth fits into a pit in the 

 upper jaw, just inside the line of the upper teeth. 



The heads of living crocodilians show wide but progressive 

 variations in breadth, as the annexed series of figures reveals. 

 The gavial of the Ganges and Jumna, in northern India, has 

 a snout like the handle of a saucepan, set with four rows of 

 long and very sharp teeth. After the gavial of Borneo, its 

 nearest relative is the Orinoco crocodile. At intervals come 



