American alligator skull (Alligator mississippiensis). Teaching collection of the Department of Zoology of the University of Valencia.
Photo: Miguel Lorenzo
Alligators are a group of crocodiles with only two current species. They differ from the rest of crocodiles, among other features, by having a shorter and wider skull and jaws. Also, unlike the rest of the crocodiles, teeth don’t protrude when they close their mouths. American alligator is the largest specie, which can reach six meters in length. It’s distributed in the marshes and swamps of the south and east of the United States, mainly in Florida. The analysis and interpretation of skulls-comparative anatomy and other vertebrate structures, is one of the subjects taught in Biology Faculty.
