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Article: Alligators and Crocodiles.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
- Article from:
- Science Weekly
- Article date:
- February 23, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Science Weekly, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Level E
Alligators and crocodiles are awesome and ancient animals. They are members of the crocodilian family. Crocodilians are the largest and smartest of all the reptiles. Once they roamed the Earth with their close relatives, the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago, but crocodilians did not. Scientist do not know why.
Crocodilians live on land and in water. Like other reptiles, they are cold-blooded. Their bodies don't make heat like ours do, and they need the sun to keep warm. They bask in the sun during the day and store up heat that will keep them warm at night.
Crocodilians are nocturnal. They do most of their ...