How many species of crocodiles and alligators are there?

How many species of crocodiles and alligators are there?

There are 24 recognised species of extant crocodilians, divided into three Families – Alligatoridae (8 species; alligators and caimans), Crocodylidae (14 species; “true” crocodiles) and Gavialidae (2 species; Gharial and Tomistoma).

What order do crocodiles and alligators belong to?

Crocodiles
Crocodiles/Order

Which is older crocodile or alligator?

Crocodiles Are Slightly Older Than Alligators Crocodiles can be traced back from around 70 million years ago to the late Cretaceous period. Alligators as we know them today can also be traced back to the late Cretaceous period, but their ancestors are not as old as Crocodile’s ancestors.

How many breeds of alligators are there?

two
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (A….Alligator.

Alligators Temporal range: Oligocene-Holocene,
Subfamily: Alligatorinae
Genus: Alligator Cuvier, 1807
Type species
Crocodylus mississippiensis Daudin, 1802

What is another name for alligator?

alligator; large crocodile; gator; cayman; caiman.

Which are older crocodiles or alligators?

Crocodiles Are Slightly Older Than Alligators Crocodiles can be traced back from around 70 million years ago to the late Cretaceous period. But, their ancestry goes back even farther than that. The animals that would later become crocodiles can be traced back to the Jurassic period.

Is a alligator a dinosaur?

Crocodylians, which include alligators and crocodiles, are not dinosaurs. They are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, however (because birds are theropod dinosaurs). Dinosauria is a group that was originally defined by anatomist Richard Owen based on a few described taxa, including Iguanodon and Megalosaurus.

Which are bigger alligators or crocodiles?

Crocodiles also tend to be longer than they alligator full grown. An adult crocodile can grow up to roughly 19 feet long, whereas for alligators, the maximum length is around 14 feet. Crocodile hides tend to be more of a light tan or olive color, whereas alligators are usually a dark blackish grey.