Alligator vs Crocodile!

- I'm Coyote Peterson,
this is Mario Aldecoa, one of these two
reptiles is an alligator  and the other is a crocodile.   Do you know which is which? Stay tuned 'cause we're
about to show you. (Dramatic tribal music) Welcome back, everyone.  OK, so what I have in
my hands right here, this is the American alligator.

- And what I have in my hands    is the American crocodile.  - And right now we're
in south Florida.    And what's really awesome
  about this location is that this is the
only place in the world    where these two reptile's
  territories overlap.    However, catching
  these two animals  was far easier said than done.

Let's take a look at
last night's catches.  There's something right here.
- [Voiceover] Where is it? Hold on, I don't see it.
- [Coyote] Right there,  right in front of you.
- [Voiceover] I don't see it. - [Voiceover] Stay
right there, let me see   if I can get closer.    I got a shot on him, so if
  you wanna go, go for it.

 - [Mario] OK, I got
 it, one, two, three.   I got it, I got it.  - [Coyote] Nice, whew! Great grab.
- [Mario] Whew!  - [Coyote] All right!
- [Mario] Yes.  - [Coyote] Wow, well,
that right there    is the first piece
  of the puzzle, the American crocodile.

Now we just need to find
an American alligator.  Got an alligator right there.    - [Mario] Oh yeah.    - [Coyote] All right, full
  weight going into this.

 This is one of those things,    you don't think about it, you just do it.   Ready?
 - [Voiceover] Yeah.   - [Coyote] One, two.    - [Mario] Got him?   - [Coyote] Got him, got him.

(Mario cheers)  Just barely got him
right behind his neck. Watch your fingers, here we go, bringing him up.   Wow.   There it is.

  All right, now we gotta
  get the American crocodile   up close with this
 American alligator. Oh man, this is awesome.   Look at those teeth.   Man, those were some
 pretty epic catches    last night, weren't they?   - Yeah, I mean how
 cool was it to catch   an alligator and a
 crocodile in the same night?   - Certainly a first for me.

Now, this is great
because it's giving us    the opportunity to
  answer a question   that a lot of people
 write in and ask me,   I'm sure they also ask you,  what's the difference between
an alligator and a crocodile?   Most people look at a
 reptile like this and think  it's one and the
same, but not really.   Once you get them up
 next to each other, you can really see that they're
pretty different looking.   Now, obviously these
 are both reptiles,   both crocodilians, and both
 have been on the planet for,  what, over 200 million years?  - [Mario] Oh yeah, absolutely.  Their lineage is prehistoric.

- [Coyote] So we're pretty
much looking at dinosaurs here?    - [Mario] Oh yeah.   - All right, so first let's
 look at the differences in snout structure
'cause this is probably  a really easy way to
identify these animals  in the wild, correct?  - [Mario] Yeah, that's
how I identify them. It's very easy.  Crocodiles have a
pointed, narrow snout.

 Alligators have a
 broad, round snout. - [Coyote] Yeah, look
how broad that snout is.  And that has to do
with the type of food   that they're eating.   - [Mario] Absolutely, yeah.

 Crocodiles are more
 coastal habitats, so they're gonna be eating fish.  And they want skinnier
jaws to potentially thrash around and grab the fish.   - Right, and I can see that    with the tooth structure,  those look like little shears. Now look at the
alligator, and of course  we know the alligators
are opportunistic, raccoons, deer, pretty
much anything that comes    across these jaws.

And they have big
broad jaws for crushing their food, pretty much.  They crush and
swallow things whole.    Now, one other similarity
  that all crocodilians have    is a nictitating membrane. And that's really cool.

This is kinda like a
built in set of goggles   for when you're
 underwater, hunting.    Now, let's talk about the
  color of these reptiles   because that is
 also very distinct.  You notice that the alligator    is very dark in
  coloration, almost black.  And I would imagine that this
helps them stay camouflaged  in dark, murky water,   as well as probably being
 able to help it absorb sun.

 As we know, reptiles
 are ectotherms,   meaning that they need the
 sun to heat up their bodies   so that they can go
 out and be active.   The crocodile, however, is
 much lighter in coloration.   Why is that?   - [Mario] Because
 of its environment.   So these guys live
 in coastal habitats, and they're gonna blend
in right with the sand.

  - Yeah, you'll notice
  that just this coloration    in the skutes and
  the scale pattern   does almost look like sand. I mean, an alligator like this,    if it was in a
  dark, murky swamp,   you could look
 straight down at it and not even see
that it's there.    Obviously it helps
  it catch its prey   once it comes up to
 the shore and boom, they lunge out of the
water to grab something.    - [Mario] Another
  difference, take a look at all the scales on the
croc and the alligator,   especially around the tail.

  So, these are what
  we call skutes.   And if you see, the
 crocodile has really    pronounced skutes,
  they're longer. The alligator has shorter ones.  And those skutes help
them propel better    through the water.

- Yeah, you can see that
the alligator's tail  is much more knobby in design,   whereas a crocodiles tail...  How about that for an
explosion of power?  Yeah, you really need
to keep your hands    locked on the neck of the
  alligator and its jaws so that he doesn't get
my fingers in his mouth,    but you can maybe
  see right there just how their tail can
quickly whip around. And that is all muscle. - This kinda leads to a
really common question I get as well, and that
is in their temperament.

Crocodiles tend to have
a very bad reputation.    They are considered more
  dangerous than alligators, but that's not true
here in Florida at all.   American crocs are actually
 really shy animals.   Alligators are a little bit
 more bold here in Florida   because they're more common,   and sometimes they're found
 in more residential areas.

 - Right, so they're
 kind of accustomed to being around humans,  but even still in both
of these instances,  these animals are
not out there looking to actually eat humans.    Often times, I know when
  it's an alligator attack, it's mistaken identity.  Somebody that's
swimming in the water, dark water specifically, you're thrashing around,  you're gonna seem
like a wounded animal    or a fish. And as an opportunistic feeder,  then the alligator is
gonna go after you.

  - Correct.  - Now, aside from the
physical differences between these two crocodilians,  there is something
that you need to know  that you can't physically see.  The American crocodile is
actually considered endangered  here in south Florida,   while the American
 alligator is just protected.    Far more likely to come
  across one of these beasts    than you are a crocodile.

If you're out there in the wild   and you see a slender snout, consider yourself lucky  because it's probably
a once in a lifetime.  I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild, we'll see you
on the next adventure.  You ready to let these
two crocodilians go?  - Let's do it.    - [Coyote] See you
  later, alligator.

- [Mario] In a while crocodile.   - [Coyote] If you thought
 that was a cool comparison,   check out the
 differences between  the alligator snapping turtle and the common snapping turtle.   And don't forget, subscribe
 to join me and the crew    on this season of
  Breaking Trail..

Labels: ANIMAL

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