Words to Know

<span class="term">Crocodilian</span> — Any member of the order Crocodilia — crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and the slender gharial. About twenty-six living species. All are semi-aquatic ambush predators of the water’s edge, and every large one can kill a person.

<span class="term">American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)</span> — The broad-snouted crocodilian of the southeastern United States — the one nearly every American will ever meet. An animal of fresh and brackish water; a conservation success recovered from near-extinction.

<span class="term">American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)</span> — A coastal, salt-tolerant crocodile of south Florida, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. Shyer than the alligator in the U.S.; farther south, in Mexico and Central America, it is involved in fatal attacks, though it does not regard people as prey.

<span class="term">Alligator vs</span> — crocodile. Quick tells: an alligator’s snout is broad and U-shaped and hides its lower teeth; a crocodile’s is narrower and V-shaped and shows a toothy grin, and crocodiles have working salt glands (so they range into the sea) while alligators do not. Useful to know — but the only safe rule is to treat both exactly the same.