Interestingly enough, the answer turns out to be an unqualified “yes”. But I haven’t really got a solid idea about that. So, do frogs have teeth? My gut feeling was… maybe? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen pictures of a frog or two with a couple of small teeth that are used to keep insects from escaping. I know my son asked me this question: “Do frogs have teeth?” I know it because it’s on my list of questions to answer, right between “How small is a leprechaun? Are mice their friends?” and “Who trained Yoda?”Īs you may have noticed, my son has a wide range of eclectic questions. Once again, I’m without a context for a question I’m working on. So really, crocodiles are among the least of your worries if you live there. In Sub-Saharan Africa (to compare apples to apples), AIDS alone kills 3,035 people per day and diarrhea kills 1,764 per day. According to the CDC, Heart disease kills 1,674 a month and suicide kills 113 people per day. That sounds intimidating, right? But it’s hardly a leading cause of death. That’s about 8 attacks per month, 5.6 of which were fatal. Still, there aren’t that many reported crocodile attacks on humans: from January 2008 to October 2013, 466 Nile crocodile attacks on humans were reported, approximately 325 of which were fatal.

And you, dear reader, look like a prey animal to them. This should probably go without saying, but the Nile crocodile is a wild animal and potentially dangerous. In optimal conditions they can reach up to 5 meters in length, although they can run between 2 – 4 meters in less favorable conditions (cool or dry or both) – there are also unconfirmed reports of animals up to 7 meters long. They can be found pretty much everywhere in Africa that isn’t desert, with a habitat that covers lakes, rivers, freshwater swamps, and brackish water. Too chilled to fight the waters that carried it, the alligator ended up farther out at sea than what is considered normal.”Ĭrocodylus niloticus, the Nile Crocodile, is not actually restricted to the Nile River. “It is likely this gator swam into the Altamaha after a day of sunning and was swept out to sea by unseasonably cold water after recent heavy rains. The article notes that while it is not unusual to find saltwater fish in the stomachs of alligators (or saltwater stingray barbs in their cheeks), the distance this one was spotted at was unusual. In 2010, an alligator was spotted some 20 miles off the cost of Georgia swimming with whales. Home base: Crocodiles tend to live in saltwater habitats, while alligators hang out in freshwater marshes and lakes.Īlthough alligators are primarily freshwater animals, they can tolerate salt water.For alligators, the upper jaw is wider than the lower one, so when they close their mouths, all their teeth are hidden. Toothy grin: When their snouts are shut, crocodiles look like they’re flashing a toothy grin, as the fourth tooth on each side of the lower jaw sticks up over the upper lip.Snout shape: Alligators have wider, U-shaped snouts, while crocodile front ends are more pointed and V-shaped.There are morphological differences as well, as described on So that’s the difference in nomenclature. “True” crocodiles, which includes the Nile Crocodile ( Crocodylus niloticus) belong to Crocodylidae. sinensis, the Chinese alligator, which lives in the lower Yangtze River.Īlligatoridae is just one family in the order Crocodilia, along with Crocodylidae and Gavialidae. mississippiensis, the American alligator, which lives in the southeastern United States. Alligatorinae includes the genus Alligator and the two currently living species of that genus: Crocodiles live in the Nile, not alligators.Īlligators are part of the Alligatoridae family, which includes the subfamilies Alligatorinae and Caimaninae. The simple answer to this question is “no”. So, rather than speculate on where it came from, let’s jump on in and try to answer it.Īre there alligators on the banks of the Nile? I’m pretty sure that it came up because he loves watching nature programs, but I can’t remember the original cause of the question. This is yet another of those questions that comes up as I work through the backlog of questions I have from my son – a question that has no context.

Wild kratts predator vs prey shark week