THE CROCODILIANS 75 



structed and the j'oung partially concealed from their 

 many enemies. 



The American Crocodile, C. americanus, stands as 

 a typical representative of the second group, where the 

 head is fairly broad in front of the eyes, thence tapers 

 sharply toward the snout, producing a triangular out- 

 line. 



Quite partial to the neighborhood of salt or brackish 

 water, we also find the present species to be the most 

 extensively distributed of the New World crocodilians. 

 In South America it is abundant in the coast regions of 

 Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela; it is generally dis- 

 tributed along the Central American and Mexican 

 coasts as well as in the West Indies. The presence of 

 the American Crocodile in Florida was not discovered 

 until 1875, when a pair of large size were collected at 

 Ai-ch Creek, at the head of Biscayne Bay, hy Dr. Wil- 

 liam T. Hornaday. The male was fourteen feet, two 

 inches long. Since that time many specimens have been 

 taken in the southern portion of the peninsula. Lake 

 Worth appears to be the northern limit. Undoubtedly 

 the Florida colony was started from animals taking to 

 sea, swimming across the Gulf of Mexico from the coast 

 swamps of Yucatan, or northward from the West In- 

 dies. The reason for the species not extending its range 

 farther north in the Florida peninsula is clearly ex- 

 plained when we appreciate that the crocodile is far 

 more sensitive to cold than the alligator. In water of a 

 temperature as cold as 45° Fahrenheit, a crocodile be- 

 comes absolutely helpless and will drown if permitted 

 to remain in the same. An alligator withstands a like 

 temperature with little inconvenience and though par- 

 tially benumbed has sense enough to take care of itself 

 and so regulates its breathing that it sinks, after once 



