Trivia question for Jul-14-2011

Olivia and Carter are teaching their Plastic Awareness Week program all this week to a great group of kids at the Riverside Retreat in LeBelle FL which gave us plenty of opportunities to see the American alligator in its natural habitat.  Because of this Olivia decided to write todays trivia about this particular relative.

These guys grow to be the largest reptile in their contenant, growing up to 20-feet from snout to tail and weighing over 1,980-lbs.  These guys possess a unique predation behavior characterized by the ability of preying both within its natural habitat (where it is the apex predator) and out of its normal range, which often results in unpredicted attacks on almost any other animal equal or smaller in size. In the water, where the only possible threat they can meet are species of its own kind, it is an agile and rapid hunter relying on both movement and pressure sensors to catch any prey unfortunate enough to present itself inside or near the waterfront.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us what type of reptile this is and for how long they can stay submerged underwater as they wait to ambush prey.  Also, tell us how you can tell the difference between these reptiles and the American alligator?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to our Twitter follower Micha from Amsterdam for being the first to identify the Nile Crocodile in our trivia.  The Nile crocodile or Common crocodile is an African crocodile which is common in Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Nile Crocodile can stay submerged underwater for up to an hour, laying in wait for the first unsuspecting animal to stumble on by for a drink before they pounce.  An easy way to tell the difference between a Nile Crocodiles from the American Alligator is to look at their snouts.  The Crocodile snout is longer and more narrow.  It can also be distinguished by its teeth.  The Alligator’s lower teeth slot into the upper-jaw sockets, located between the teeth, so they are hidden with the mouth closed.  The lower fourth tooth can, however, always be seen.  Here is more on the ferocius reptiles:  Nile Crocodile

Thanks for playing along 😉