22 January, 2011

Differentiate between reptiles and amphibians

Differentiate between reptiles and amphibians :-
Crocodiles and alligators are very similar to amphibians but hey are not termed under amphibians. In fact they are a part of the reptile family. They are the larger reptiles in this family. The difference between amphibians and reptiles are that though many reptiles like crocodiles and alligators can live in both water and land they are less dependant on water than the amphibians. An amphibian might be able to live on land but it needs a water body nearby. It cannot survive on dry and desert areas unlike the reptiles.

Moreover though crocodiles and alligators can live in water they have to come on the land to lay eggs which is not mandatory in the case of amphibians like frogs. The reptiles like crocodiles, alligators and other species related to them breathe through their lungs while amphibians have other organs to fulfil this purpose. Thus the crocodiles are not a part of the amphibian family because they are more closely related to the reptiles with their scaly skin, lizard like shape, and jaws.

Post from Mr. Lenin Maniezhilan (an I.T Professional ,Banglore) ... But when Mr. Lenin post this comment i and most of us come to know the difference between crocodile and alligator.

Difference between
Crocodile and an Alligator:-

The first difference between a crocodile and an alligator is that they are from different families of crocodilians. Crocodiles are from the crocodylidae family, while alligators and caiman are from the alligatoridae family.

In terms of physical differences the easiest way to tell the difference between the two is that a crocodile has a very long, narrow, V-shaped snout, while the alligator's snout is wider and U-shaped. Because of the wide snout of the alligator it packs more crushing power to eat prey like turtles that constitute part of its diet. The narrow crocodile snout, although still very powerful, is not really suited for prey like turtles but is very versatile for fish and mammals. Another difference between alligators and crocodiles is the presence or absence of viewable teeth. Crocodile's top and bottom teeth are viewable from the side, whereas alligator's bottom teeth are not. Alligator are found in North America and also in north China now alligators are being considered critically endangered.


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