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Crocodylidae: Large, heavily armored, lizard-like reptiles with elongate snouts and powerfull tails. Osteoderms (heavy plates of bone) underneath the dorsal scales form the armor and are present ventrally in many species. Teeth are thecodont (set into sockets, from Greek thece = container and odus = tooth). All crocodiles are adapted to aquatic life by having webbed feet, nostrils on top of their snout that can be closed by valves, and eyes with a transparent membrane that is drawn across the eye under water. Other features are unique among reptiles, e.g. a muscular partition separating th epectoral and abdominal cavities (similar to the diaphragm of mammals) and alveoli in the lungs. Crocodiles also have a heart with four chambers which mostly prevents mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. |
