Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I always thought Crocodiles and Alligators were fresh? water creatures but my grandson tell me they can also live in the sea is the smart little 5 year old right. can anyone resolve this small family dispute

The salt water croc of Australia is frequently found out to sea.
crocodil

And also freshies have been known to enter saltwater territory. I also believe that N. American crocs have been known to live in marshy and brackis areas, and gators can tolerate saltwater for a small period of time.

all crocodiles in the crocodylus genus have the ability if they choose to go in salt water. they have salt glands on there thungs. this allows them to excreet salt from water. caimans and alligators cannot do this. JCS

They can't "live" in the sea, although a couple species (American and saltwater crocs) can spend more time in salt water than the others. They can do this because they have a more efficient system of ridding the excess salt from thier bodies (called osmoregulation). Interestingly though, even these two more salt-tolerant species will not drink salt water as instictively they know it would kill them to do so.

Still, pretty smart for a 5-year-old.

Estuarine (salt water) crocodiles use their blood system to remove salt from the body. Lingual glands at the back part of their tongue excrete excess salt when the animal is living in a highly saline environment. They are the only reptile that uses this method to deal with excess salt. One of the few other reptile species that has adapted a way to deal with excess salt is marine iguanas, but they do so by snorting out the salt from their noses (why they often have a "white" face).

Renee