SPECIES LIST

Here they are: Alligators, Caimans, Crocodiles and Gharials, 23 worldwide, and all distinct. 

Slender-snouts. Wide snouts. Cold tolerance. Size potential. Dentition. Color. Mating behavior. Scalation. Diet. Vocalization. Location. Nervous system. Skeletal structure. Adaptation. Evolution.

These are just a few of the numerous distinctions between some 23 (and possibly more) kinds of crocodilians on Earth. How do scientists keep track, so they may study them? If you're not familiar with the method, here's a simple walk-through.

Scientists employ a system called taxonomy, and despite some confusion in its perception, it is simply the classifying, or ordering of animals.

NAMES

Determining the taxonomical, or scientific name, of a crocodilian based on scientific order is a simple puzzle. For example, the animal commonly known as the Common/Spectacled Caiman is Caiman (=GENUS) crocodilus (=SPECIES); so, the full name is 

     Caiman crocodilus.

The subspecies of that same crocodilus, most commonly known as the Brown Caiman,  is fuscus;  thus the full name of the subspecies is 

     Caiman crocodilus fuscus.

CHANGES

You may have heard or read of a species or subspecies

that is not listed on this page. Such ones have been excluded from the list here because they're generally

not recognized by most professionals since there is not enough data to support a classification as such.

The technology used in genetic study is advancing constantly, enabling researchers to discover genetic relationships previously unknown - hence, the

· THE LIVING CROCODILIANS OF THE WORLD ·

  Scientific Classification                           Most common English name(s)

KINGDOM: Animalia

  PHYLUM: Chordata

    CLASS: Reptilia

      SUPERORDER: Crocodylomorpha

        ORDER: Crocodylia

                   FAMILY: Alligatoridae

               FAMILY: Crocodylidae

                              siamensis          COMING SOON

REFERENCES:  

Checklist of Crocodilians, Tuatara, and Turtles of the World: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/turtcroclist/chklst1

.htm#Crocodylia; Crocodilians: Natural History & Conservation: http://www.crocodilian.com/; International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature: http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp; 

Mikko Haaramo's Philogeny Archives:http://www.fmnh.helsinki.

fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Archosauria

/Crocodylia/Crocodyliformes.htm; University of Bristol Department of Earth Sciences MSc Palaeoebiology Programme: http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Fossilgroups/Crocodylomorpha

/Groups.html.

^ BACK TO TOP