If you guessed based on their bite strength that alligators and crocodiles are big animals, you'd be right. American alligators generally weigh around 1,000 pounds and grow to be about 12 feet long. The saltwater crocodile just edges out its American cousins with an average weight of 1,000 pounds but growing up to 17 feet. But those are just rookie numbers. The heaviest alligator on record was over 1,300 pounds, while the longest was over 15 feet, but even that pales in comparison to...
Alligators and crocodiles are perhaps the most fearsome and prehistoric of all the animals that share the planet with humans. The jaws of the American alligator can chomp with up to 3,000 pounds of force, outclassed only by its cousin the saltwater crocodile, which can bite with over 3,600 pounds, more than any other animal.
Many people tend to use the words "alligator" and "crocodile" interchangeably, implying that there is almost no difference between the two animals. While they do look similar, there are several important differences between them. Crocodiles have longer and thinner snouts than alligators. Alligators are freshwater animals, while crocodiles live in saltwater. The teeth of a crocodile are visible, even when the crocodile's mouth is closed, while alligator teeth are invisible until the mouth is open. While there are plenty of differences between alligators and crocodiles, there are also a lot of similarities.
What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? Crocodiles and alligators are large, superficially similar reptiles belonging to the same order: the crocodilians. Though collectively these toothy aquatic predators range across the Americas, Africa, southern Asia and Australasia, there's only one place in the world where you could actually find them sharing habitat in the wild: South Florida.
Crocodiles inhabit rivers, lakes and swamps in tropical areas such as Southeast Asia, Australia, Africa, Central and South America and even in Florida. These reptiles sometimes grow as large as 20 feet long and weigh around a ton.
Alligators are formidable reptiles that are common in Florida and other Southeastern states. Only about 8 inches long at birth, they can grow to 15 feet long, and weigh up to 1,000 pounds. Alligators are well adapted to their environment; their bodies, from teeth to tail, are designed to help them eat, swim and survive in the rivers, swamps and marshes where they typically dwell.
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