THE ALLIGATORS. 



267 



GANGES GAVIAL. 



THE ALLIGATOR FAMILY. 



The distinctions between Crocodiles and Alligators only require a little more than ordinary 

 observation for their comprehension. 



The head of the Alligator is short and broad ; that of the Crocodile is longer. The teeth are 

 very unequal in the Alligator, and the large lower canine, or the fourth from the front, enters 

 a hole in the upper jaw, and is more or less hidden when the mouth is closed. The teeth of the 

 Crocodile are less unequal, and the large canine is visible when the mouth is closed, as it fits in a 

 groove on the side of the upper jaw. The hind legs and feet of the Alligators are round, and neither 

 fringed nor ragged, and the toes are not webbed further than the middle, these structures, as has 

 been shown already, being differently developed in the Crocodiles. 



The scales of the neck and body are arranged differently in the two reptiles, and in some 

 Alligators they form a continuous armour. With these exceptions the external aspect of the animals 

 is similar ; and there is not much difference in their habits, the Alligators rarely, if ever, going 

 down to the sea, while the Crocodiles do so occasionally. 



The Alligators form a family, and probably but one genus ; but Dr. Gray and others have formed 

 three genera Alligator, Jacare, and Caiman and there are several species. 



Of the genus Alligator there is the species called the Mississippi Alligator, or the Pike-headed 



