Crocodiles, alligators, caimans and the gharial all belong to the order Crocodilia and are referred to as 'crocodilians'.
True crocodiles live throughout the tropics – in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The saltwater crocodile, which is found throughout Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and surrounding waters, is the largest living reptile and the most aggressive of all crocodiles. Males can grow up to 21 feet in length (but the female is only half the size).
There are two extant species of alligator: the American and the Chinese. The American alligator can be up to 14 feet in length, the Chinese rarely more than half that. The word 'alligator' is probably an anglicized form of el lagarto – Spanish for 'the lizard'.
Caimans are native to Mexico, and Central and South America. They are generally smaller than crocodiles. There are five extant species of caiman: Cuvier's dwarf caiman, and the smooth–fronted, spectacled, yacare, broad–snouted and black varieties. Yacare is Spanish for 'spectacled', but the spectacled and yacare caimans are separate species. Cuvier's dwarf caiman is, as its name implies, the smallest species of caiman, and the black caiman is the largest. Cuvier's dwarf caiman averages 4' 6" in length, while the black caiman can grow to as much as 13 feet.
The gharial is native to India and is one of the largest crocodilians. Males can grow up to 20 feet in length, females up to 15 feet. Adult males have a distinct boss at the end of the snout, which resembles an earthenware pot known as a ghara; hence the name 'gharial'.
There is also something called the false gharial, which is also known as the Malayan gharial, Sunda gharial or Tomistoma. It lives in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, and Java.
© Haydn Thompson 2021