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April 2, 2005
Social Studies Activity 1 - Leapin' Lizards
Crocodiles are survivors from the dinosaur age. A crocodile then looked very much like it does now. Crocodiles belong to a reptile family that did not become extinct like most dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
The features of the crocodile today are very similar to what they were 15 million years ago. A crocodile's armor-plated skin is made up of tough scales called scutes. These are reinforced from bony plates just below the surface.
Prehistoric crocodiles were giants, some up to 40 feet (13 meters) long! They preyed on other reptiles, including small dinosaurs. Other prehistoric crocodiles were as small as lizards.
Crocodiles have been honored throughout history. Egyptians in the town of Crocodilopolis had a crocodile god. The ancient Egyptian god of water, Sobek, was in the shape of a crocodile. Alligators, from the same reptilian family as crocodiles, got their name from 'el lagarto,' the Spanish word for lizard!
The estuarine (saltwater) crocodile from Australia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia is the biggest of all crocs! This massive croc is the only one to swim in the sea. They live in estuaries along the coast and can grow BIGGGGG! The largest saltwater crocodile on record was 27 feet (9 meters) in length and weighed two tons!
With the coming of the European colonists, crocodile habitats became crowded with humans. Both enjoyed the living conditions along the Australian coastal areas. Unfortunately, they couldn't cohabitate as both were creating a problem for the other! No only did crocodiles hunt their prey from the rivers as animals came to drink, they also have the ability to leap as much as 9 feet (3 meters) out of the water after a meal! Crocs began feeding on livestock and then humans nearly hunted the crocs out of existence.
In 1972, crocodile hunting was banned in Australia. It is believed that around 270,000 saltwater crocodile skins and between 200,000 and 300,000 freshwater crocodile skins were exported from Australia before the ban. To meet consumer needs for their meat and their skins, crocodile farms now raise crocs. Poaching of these reptiles has become less of a problem. The croc farms have also become a major tourist attraction, especially at feeding time!
Things to Do With this Lesson:
Vocabulary:
export
poacher
cohabitate
estuary
prey
ban
Materials:
Preparation:
Procedure:
Use these links to help you research:
Crocodiles.com>
Aborginal Crocs
Marine Bio
Species List
Alligators & Crocs
Posted by april at April 2, 2005 4:31 PM
Comments
Our time line was done by Kaley, Rudy, Garrett, Jon, Curtis, and Katya. We picked our times in our time line because these dates were important in crocodile history. They show how people treated the crocodiles and howcrocodiles came to be.When you see the information you will also see the dates too them.
Posted by: Jon, Gerrett, Rudy, Katya, Kaley and Curtis at May 9, 2005 6:27 PM
Click on the link Download file
to see our time line about crcodiles you will find it interesting and exciteing!!
Posted by: Danica Mikala Matt Micheal at April 28, 2005 9:33 PM
Our timeline shows the history of crocodiles through a period of time. We also put photos on the timeline to give you a better perspective of what they look like, changing over time. Our project is based on the generations of crocodiles through historic times. We hope that you will enjoy learning about crocodiles and their life, like we enjoyed making this timeline. Our timeline begins 65,000,000 years ago.
Posted by: Morgan at April 25, 2005 8:56 PM
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