Willie B Herd Posted December 26, 2013 #1 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Crocs and gators are highly evolved apex predators, they both have a special valve in their hearts which enables them to shut off blood flow to their lungs, and they can hold their breath underwater for 2 hrs. They both have glands in their mouths to deal w/ salt-water environments, BUT they don't function in gators. Gators can tolerate cooler temps than crocs, and this is why they are found farther North. Their webbed feet are not used while swimming, the webbing is for walking in mud. (A few crocs were relocated some 400 miles away from their home in S. India, and they returned in less than 3 weeks!) Crocs have the most powerful bite-force on the planet, followed by the gator, (and the great white shark is third). Also, the muscles they use to open their mouths are very weak, and a human could easily hold a lg croc's mouth closed, (assuming they would sit still for this). A croc's mouth is V shaped, and its teeth lay outside its jaws when closed. A gator's mouth is U shaped, and its teeth fit into pockets in the upper/lower jaws. Both use their (rounded) teeth, (70 total, I think) for grasping and holding. Not too effective for tearing flesh, but they can twist and roll, and each species will work together on a carcass. Also, if they can't make an imm. kill, they will drag their victim underwater, and wait for it to drown. According to 'Dark And Dangerous' Ivan Carter, crocs are the fastest predator in Africa in the first ten yrds. At least 365 ppl are killed by crocs near the Zambezi river every yr, (one per day average!). A croc was filmed competing w/ a lion for bait hung from a tree over 2 miles away from any water. Hippos kill more ppl in Africa than lions every yr, and the arch-enemy of the croc. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava_Lady Posted December 26, 2013 #2 Share Posted December 26, 2013 interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie B Herd Posted December 26, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted December 26, 2013 (edited) Wikipedia: Crocs are able to replace each of their 80 teeth up to 50 times in their 35 to 75-year lifespan. Touch Caudal: The upper and lower jaws are covered with sensory pits, visible as small, black speckles on the skin, the crocodilian version of the lateral line organs seen in fish and many amphibians, though arising from a completely different origin. These pigmented nodules encase bundles of nerve fibers innervated beneath by branches of the trigeminal nerve. They respond to the slightest disturbance in surface water, detecting vibrations and small pressure changes as small as a single drop.[41] This makes it possible for crocodiles to detect prey, danger and intruders, even in total darkness. These sense organs are known as Domed Pressure Receptors (DPRs).[42] Post-Caudal: While alligators and caimans have DPRs only on their jaws, crocodiles have similar organs on almost every scale on their bodies. The function of the DPRs on the jaws is clear; to catch prey, but it is still not clear what is the function of the organs on the rest of the body. The receptors flatten when exposed to increased osmotic pressure, such as that experienced when swimming in sea water hyper-osmotic to the body fluids. When contact between the integument and the surrounding sea water solution is blocked, crocodiles are found to lose their ability to discriminate salinities. It has been proposed that the flattening of the sensory organ in hyper-osmotic sea water is sensed by the animal as “touch”, but interpreted as chemical information about its surroundings.This might be why in alligators they are absent on the rest of the body. ****************************************************************************************************************************** Both crocs and gators continue to grow thru out their lives as long as they have enough to eat....and they can go for 6 months without eating. Largest croc ever captured live was in the Phillipines, over 20' long and 2,370 lbs...but died in captivity after one yr. (Story can be seen on Animal Planet...amazing!!!) Only 2 species of gators, and 14 species of crocs. Nest temperature determines sex of offspring, and a gator will care for its young for as long as 6 months. Also on Animal Planet, "Tiger Dynasty", filmed in India. About a 2 min. segment: On a lake shore, a large tiger stands directly over a croc, (about 11' long) and stays just behind the croc's head. The croc didn't try to run away, but swung its head side to side, and up/dn to try and bite the tiger. The tiger knew just where to stand to stay out of danger, and when the croc lowered its head, the tiger bit him on the neck, killing it instantly!!! Tiger=1, Croc=zero Edited December 26, 2013 by Willie B Herd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopToffee Posted December 29, 2013 #4 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Wikipedia: Crocs are able to replace each of their 80 teeth up to 50 times in their 35 to 75-year lifespan. Touch Caudal: The upper and lower jaws are covered with sensory pits, visible as small, black speckles on the skin, the crocodilian version of the lateral line organs seen in fish and many amphibians, though arising from a completely different origin. These pigmented nodules encase bundles of nerve fibers innervated beneath by branches of the trigeminal nerve. They respond to the slightest disturbance in surface water, detecting vibrations and small pressure changes as small as a single drop.[41] This makes it possible for crocodiles to detect prey, danger and intruders, even in total darkness. These sense organs are known as Domed Pressure Receptors (DPRs).[42] Post-Caudal: While alligators and caimans have DPRs only on their jaws, crocodiles have similar organs on almost every scale on their bodies. The function of the DPRs on the jaws is clear; to catch prey, but it is still not clear what is the function of the organs on the rest of the body. The receptors flatten when exposed to increased osmotic pressure, such as that experienced when swimming in sea water hyper-osmotic to the body fluids. When contact between the integument and the surrounding sea water solution is blocked, crocodiles are found to lose their ability to discriminate salinities. It has been proposed that the flattening of the sensory organ in hyper-osmotic sea water is sensed by the animal as “touch”, but interpreted as chemical information about its surroundings.This might be why in alligators they are absent on the rest of the body. ****************************************************************************************************************************** Both crocs and gators continue to grow thru out their lives as long as they have enough to eat....and they can go for 6 months without eating. Largest croc ever captured live was in the Phillipines, over 20' long and 2,370 lbs...but died in captivity after one yr. (Story can be seen on Animal Planet...amazing!!!) Only 2 species of gators, and 14 species of crocs. Nest temperature determines sex of offspring, and a gator will care for its young for as long as 6 months. Also on Animal Planet, "Tiger Dynasty", filmed in India. About a 2 min. segment: On a lake shore, a large tiger stands directly over a croc, (about 11' long) and stays just behind the croc's head. The croc didn't try to run away, but swung its head side to side, and up/dn to try and bite the tiger. The tiger knew just where to stand to stay out of danger, and when the croc lowered its head, the tiger bit him on the neck, killing it instantly!!! Tiger=1, Croc=zero Gustave would have killed any Tiger.He was a known Hippo killer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie B Herd Posted December 29, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Who is Gustave??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGirl Posted December 29, 2013 #6 Share Posted December 29, 2013 thanks for the info! I love them both - very cool creatures 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie B Herd Posted December 29, 2013 Author #7 Share Posted December 29, 2013 JGirl, I agree, check wikipedia for more info on both. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopToffee Posted December 30, 2013 #8 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Who is Gustave??? Gustave was a Nile Croc who has been known to kill Hippos.He was a seriously big guy.You can find video of him on Youtube. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmike1 Posted December 30, 2013 #9 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Gators can live in semi-saltwater environments just fine. Seen them many times off the coast of Mississippi, and even have a few that live on the barrier islands which are 12 miles off the coast. The marshes are infested with them. Extremely interesting and adaptable creatures. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie B Herd Posted December 30, 2013 Author #10 Share Posted December 30, 2013 (edited) Gustave was a Nile Croc who has been known to kill Hippos.He was a seriously big guy.You can find video of him on Youtube. They will kill a baby hippo given the chance, but most will avoid a full grown adult. Hippos are probably the only animal that stands a chance against a croc in the water. I'll check Youtube, thanks. Edited December 30, 2013 by Willie B Herd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie B Herd Posted December 30, 2013 Author #11 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Gators can live in semi-saltwater environments just fine. Seen them many times off the coast of Mississippi, and even have a few that live on the barrier islands which are 12 miles off the coast. The marshes are infested with them. Extremely interesting and adaptable creatures. Mike I've also seen them in 'brackish waters' in FL, didn't know they stayed long term in a salt water environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopToffee Posted January 1, 2014 #12 Share Posted January 1, 2014 They will kill a baby hippo given the chance, but most will avoid a full grown adult. Hippos are probably the only animal that stands a chance against a croc in the water. I'll check Youtube, thanks. He was a seriously big lad who took a full grown hippo.Check him out on Youtube.Hippos were feared of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie B Herd Posted January 7, 2014 Author #13 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Largest croc ever captured live was in the Phillipines, over 20' long and 2,370 lbs...but died in captivity after one yr. (Story can be seen on Animal Planet...amazing!!!) This program titled, "Monster Croc Hunt" will be aired on NatGeo this coming Sun nite @ 8PM eastern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROGER Posted January 7, 2014 #14 Share Posted January 7, 2014 And please remember the Crocogator ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpiosonic Posted February 15, 2014 #15 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Dug this out of the basement......amazing animals, and they can climb trees too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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