Alligators & Crocodiles

Crocodile attacks in Australia have risen since conservation measures helped their numbers skyrocket. Now, scientists are harnessing their environmental DNA to find these predators before they strike.

In this extract from "Bite: An Incisive History of Teeth, from Hagfish to Humans," Bill Schutt looks at the creatures with the strongest bite forces in the world.

When temperatures drop below freezing, alligators can enter a state of torpor known as brumation, as the water around them solidifies and suspends them in a giant, pond-shaped ice cube.

Queensland authorities are on the lookout for a crocodile reported to have leapt into a fisher's boat at Jane Creek before losing its balance and tumbling back into the water.

An extremely rare leucistic alligator born in Gatorland, Orlando, is the result of a genetic condition that leads to the partial loss of skin pigmentation, resulting in white or translucent skin.

A tooth unearthed in Spain and dating to the Pliocene is the latest evidence of a crocodile ever found in Europe and supports the idea crocs crossed over from Africa about 6.2 million years ago.

A crocodile in Kenya's Mara River was filmed thrashing around with the corpse of a baby hippo in its jaws in unusual sighting. It is unclear if the crocodile killed the calf or if it snatched a stillborn.

A Chinook helicopter flying above a crocodile farm in Queensland appears to have set off a huge sexy frenzy, with the crocs mistaking the noise and vibrations as a signal it was time to make babies.

Crocodiles appeared to rescue a dog that had been chased into a river, and scientists said this unusual behavior could indicate empathy — but others are skeptical.

The enormous alligator was over 13 feet long and weighed 920 pounds — the second heaviest ever to be caught in Florida.