Siamese crocodile opening its oral cavity (Picture: Corbis)

Alligators and crocodiles are often mistaken for one another – but at that place is one crucial difference.

It turns out crocodiles can't stick their tongues out, while alligators tin can.

thumbnail for post ID 6989561 'Crocodile' spotted lurking in River Thames

Not only that just the tongue shape and position of a croc is completely different to a gator.

That'due south a pretty important distinction, especially if you spot a gator type creature laying beside a path out in the Everglades in Florida.

Gators tin can be adequately relaxed when a person walks by while a croc might snap your legs off.

But why is at that place a difference at all? After all aren't the two creatures closely related?

Hither is everything you lot need to know.

Why can't a crocodile stick out its tongue?

A Saltwater Crocodile in Sydney, Commonwealth of australia (Motion-picture show:Getty Images)

Crocs take a membrane that holds their tongue in place on the roof of their mouth so it doesn't movement.

This makes it impossible for them to stick information technology outside of their narrow mouths, co-ordinate to the BBC.

That can be handy for the reptile when snapping its jaws shut chop-chop. It wouldn't desire to accidentally snap its ain tongue off when eating casualty.

The quirk is in Nile crocodiles, American crocodiles, dwarf crocodiles and mugger crocs.

Okay what about alligators?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/AmericanAlligator.JPG

Alligator tongues meanwhile run along the full length of their snouts – which can be up to ii anxiety long.

At the back of their natural language they have a palatal valve, which is a piece of flesh that stops h2o getting in when they are submerged. It kind of acts like a seal.

It also means that gators can open their mouths nether water to grab prey, according to Ben Tabley, the caput of herpetology at London Zoo.

And aye they can stick their tongues out.

What other differences are there?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Crocnest.JPG

Gators and crocs can usually be distinguished from one another with the shape of their heads.

Crocodiles, which are chocolate-brown , take narrow snouts while gators have a much wider nose. Crocodiles have teeth in their lower jaws that beetle when the oral cavity is close.

Alligators, which are typically black in colour, meanwhile just show their upper teeth with their mouths closed.

Both crocs and alligators live in freshwater just but crocodiles can lives in salt water because they take glads that excrete salt to let them to survive.

In Florida crocodiles are considered an endangered species while alligators are only considered a species of 'special business concern', co-ordinate to Wild Florida.

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