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ALLIGATOR (Spanish el lagarto, " the ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 696 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ALLIGATOR (See also:Spanish el lagarto, " the See also:lizard ") , an See also:animal so closely allied to the See also:crocodile that some naturalists have classed them together as forming one genus. It differs from the true crocodile principally in having the See also:head broader and shorter, and the snout more obtuse; in having the See also:fourth, enlarged tooth of the under See also:jaw received, not into an See also:external notch, but into a See also:pit formed for it within the upper one; in wanting a jagged fringe which appears on the See also:hind legs and feet of the crocodile; and in having the toes of the hind feet webbed not more than See also:half way to the tips. Alligators proper occur in the fluviatile deposits of the See also:age of the Upper See also:Chalk in -See also:Europe, where they did not See also:die out until the See also:Pliocene age; they are now restricted to two See also:species, A. mississippiensis or See also:lucius in the See also:southern states of See also:North See also:America up to 12 ft. in length, and the small A. sinensis in the Yang-tse-kiang. In Central and See also:South America alligators are represented by five species of the genus Caiman, which differs from Alligator by the See also:absence of a bony septum between the nostrils, and the ventral See also:armour is composed of overlapping bony scutes, each of which is formed of two parts See also:united by a suture. C. sclerops, the spectacled alligator, has the widest See also:distribution, from southern See also:Mexico to the See also:northern half of See also:Argentina, and grows to a bulky See also:size. The largest, attaining an enormous bulk and a length of 20 ft., is the C. See also:niger, the jacare-assu or large caiman of the See also:Amazons. The names " alligator " and " crocodile " are often confounded in popular speech; and the structure and habits of the two animals are so similar that both are most conveniently considered under the heading CROCODILE.

End of Article: ALLIGATOR (Spanish el lagarto, " the lizard ")

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