See also:

• ALLIGATOR (Spanish el lagarto, " the lizard ")

ALLIGATOR (See also:

• SPANISH

Spanish el lagarto, " the See also:

• LIZARD (Lat. lacertal)

lizard ")  , an See also:

• ANIMAL
• ANIMAL (Lat. animalis, from anima, breath, soul)

animal so closely allied to the See also:

• CROCODILE

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 (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head broader and shorter, and the snout more obtuse; in having the See also:

• FOURTH

fourth, enlarged tooth of the under See also:

• JAW (Mid. Eng. jawe, jowe and geowe, O. Eng. cheowan, connected with " chaw " and " chew," and in form with " jowl ")

jaw received, not into an See also:

• EXTERNAL

external notch, but into a See also:

• PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit formed for it within the upper one; in wanting a jagged fringe which appears on the See also:

• HIND

hind legs and feet of the crocodile; and in having the toes of the hind feet webbed not more than See also:

• HALF

half way to the tips . Alligators proper occur in the fluviatile deposits of the See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age of the Upper See also:

• CHALK

Chalk in -See also:

• EUROPE

Europe, where they did not See also:

• DIE
• DIE (Fr. de, from Lat. datum, given)

die out until the See also:

• PLIOCENE (from the Gr. sr?eiov, mere, and xatvbs, recent)

Pliocene age; they are now restricted to two See also:

• SPECIES

species, A. mississippiensis or See also:

• LUCIUS

lucius in the See also:

• SOUTHERN

southern states of See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

North See also:

• AMERICA

America up to 12 ft. in length, and the small A. sinensis in the Yang-tse-kiang . In Central and See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

South America alligators are represented by five species of the genus Caiman, which differs from See also:

• ALLIGATOR (Spanish el lagarto, " the lizard ")

Alligator by the See also:

• ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of a bony septum between the nostrils, and the ventral See also:

• ARMOUR, PHILIP DANFORTH (1832-1901)

armour is composed of overlapping bony scutes, each of which is formed of two parts See also:

• UNITED

united by a suture . C. sclerops, the spectacled alligator, has the widest See also:

• DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution, from southern See also:

• MEXICO
• MEXICO (Span. Mejico, or Mexico,)
• MEXICO, FEDERAL DISTRICT OF
• MEXICO, GULF OF

Mexico to the See also:

• NORTHERN

northern half of See also:

• ARGENTINA

Argentina, and grows to a bulky See also:

• SIZE

size . The largest, attaining an enormous bulk and a length of 20 ft., is the C. See also:

• NIGER
• NIGER, GAIUS PESCENNIUS

niger, the jacare-assu or large caiman of the See also:

• AMAZONS

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 .