FAMILY:
ALLIGATORIDAE
A. mississippiensis
A. sinensis
C. crocodilus
C. c. apaporiensis
C. c. fuscus
C. latirostris
C. yacare
M. niger
P. palpebrosus
P. trigonatus
FAMILY:
CROCODYLIDAE
C. acutus
C. intermedius
C. johnstoni
C. mindorensis
C. moreletii
C. niloticus
C. novaeguineae
C. palustris
C. porosus
C. rhombifer
C. siamensis
M. cataphractus
O. tetraspis
T. schlegelii
FAMILY:
GAVIALIDAE
DICHOTOMOUS KEY
[German]
The teeth in this photograph are typical of a captive animal: skewed and distorted. Wild Morelet's crocodiles have a much neater arrangement of teeth which project vertically towards the opposite jaw. Jaw shape and teeth can tell us much about the diet of a species, and the more posterior teeth of this species are more rounded and blunt than the other teeth, possibly indicating a crushing role (e.g. for hard-shelled prey). A slightly unusual feature is the angulate swelling present in the maxillary bone to accomodate the tenth upper tooth.
Photograph © Adam Britton
