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Reptiles in the order crocodilia with stronger traits, such as stronger jaw or faster swim speed would fair better than others because they could get more food over some of the other animals. This has been seen as the larger reptiles are more prone to pass on their traits instead of smaller reptiles.

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One of the largest and most important characteristic of the reptiles in order crocodilia are large powerful jaws. As seen from early ancestors to today's well known reptiles, all species have been see to have a larger strong jaw. This shows that this trait is key to the survival of reptiles from order crocodilia and will continue to be passed down.

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In a dying species such as the Indian Gharial, emigration would be harmful because the population number is already very low. If a group of gharials were to emigrate out, then there would be a lesser number of them to reproduce leading to less offspring leading to a smaller population. Due to the already endangered population, if gharials failed to reproduce, they could potentially go extinct.

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Geographic isolation has affected mating within order crocodilia because even though two species, such as gharials and alligators, are very similar in the chromosome, they live on opposite sides of the world and have now evolved too much to be able to reproduce fertile offspring. This is due to the geographic isolation of both species. Maybe at one point, early alligators and gharials may have been able to mix, but now because of the large geographic barrier, this would be unlikely. Reproductive isolation has also occurred because of different mating season.

1. American Crocodile: Mate during April and May

2. Males will fight each other for females by roaring loudly

3. Females will roar loudly if interested

4. Females will lay 30-60 eggs and bury them to keep them warm until they hatch in 9-10 weeks

Even though both crocodiles and gharials can be commonly found near each other and have very similar genetics, their mating seasons are opposite from each other making it hard to reproduce.

1. Gharial: Courting during December, mating during January-February

2. Males will hiss and make a buzzing noise to attrack females

3. Females will lay 40-80 eggs and keep them burried in sand

4. Takes around 70 days to mature

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Reptiles from order crocodilia can be seen to have gone through a divergent evolution based on location and their different characteristics. While crocodiles and gharials have been seen to have longer snouts and pale coloration, alligator and caimans tend to have short stubby snouts and are a darker color. It can therefore be assumed that because of the different location, these species have become more different because of their surrounding.

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Order crocodilia can be observed going through punctuated equilibrium because they went from walking/running on four upright legs to having short stubby legs that are more on the side of their body. Other than the leg development, there has been very little change with the structure of reptiles from order crocodilia.

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This crocodilian ancestor spent most of its time in the water. Like many of the other fossils, this reptile was believed to be a monster growing up to nearly 30ft long living roughly around 120 million years ago.

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Creature weighed three tons and likely grew to more than 30 feet long

Looked much like a modern day crocodile except for its narrow snout

Ate turtles and fish, and may have scavenged for food as well

It would have been a terrifying sight - a giant crocodile twice the size of anything seen today.

Paleontologists have revealed the the fossil remains of Machimosaurus rex, a 30 foot long giant that weighed up to three tonnes.

The animal, believed to be the world's biggest ocean-dwelling crocodile, was found buried on the edge of the Sahara.

MACHIMOSAURUS REX

The fossils, including a skull and a smattering of other bones, were discovered by Federico Fanti of the University of Bologna in Italy and colleagues with support from the National Geographic Society.

New studies dating the skeleton, found in the region of Tataouine in Tunisia, to 130 million years ago, indicating that these large animals were still alive during the Cretaceous period.

Other than its size, it would have looked much like a modern day crocodile except for its narrow snout, which allowed it to swim in the ocean, the team say.

Scientists believe M. rex had a powerful bite and short, stocky teeth.

'Machimosaurus was the apex of the food chain in a vast lagoon environment located between the arid Saharan regions and the ocean of Tethys that the once separated Africa and Europe,' the team wrote.

'Careful studies on the skull of machimosaurus indicate an extraordinary force in the bite, able to grind solid carapaces of large turtles, of which many fossils were found together with the crocodile.'

Machimosaurus belongs to a group of large crocodiles that lived in the seas and coastal regions about 150 million years ago, in the late Jurassic period.

The fossils found in Europe and North America show that at this time several groups of marine reptiles went through a period of crisis and their biodiversity fell drastically.

For this reason, the transition from the Jurassic period to the Cretaceous has been considered for a long time as a period of extinction at the global level.

Machimosaurus rex and other fossil species found in Tunisia have been dated to 130 million years ago, so they were still alive during the Cretaceous, about 25 million years after the period of the alleged global extinction.

Precisely for this reason, this discovery provides new data to interpret the events of the end of the Jurassic, a biological crisis still poorly understood compared with other similar events, such as the famous extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, which caused the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

It likely ate turtles and fish, and may have scavenged for food as well.

'Machimosaurus rex had stocky, relatively short and rounded teeth,' Fanti said, 'and a massive skull capable of a remarkable bite force.'

'It would likely have been something of an ambush predator, hanging around in shallow water hunting turtles and fishes and maybe waiting for some land animals to come a little too close to the shore,' Dr. Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who was not involved in the new research, told National Geographic.

'This is a neat new discovery from a part of the world that hasn't been well-explored for fossils.'

The biggest freshwater crocodile ever, Sarcosuchus imperator, lived 110 million years ago, grew as long as 40 feet (12 meters), and weighed up to eight metric tons (17,500 pounds).

Tunisia, where the skeleton and some bones were found, would have been a lagoon facing the ocean and the environment would have been filled with huge fish and turtles.

The find sheds new light on amass extinction event that exparts say happened between the Jurassic and Cretaceous period about 150 million years ago.

Machimosaurus rex was thought to have died out then but the discovery suggests the extinction event was not as widespread as some paleontologist thought.

'The fact that Machimosaurus rex (pertaining to a group that was well alive in the Jurassic) lived 130-120 million years ago indicate that there was no mass extinction,' Fanti said.

'Everyone thought this group of crocodiles went extinct in the Jurassic but we found it well into the Cretaceous,' he said.

'We simply extended the temporal range of the animals. Twenty million years is a lot of time.'

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Meet Machimosaurus rex: Archaeologists find three tonne MEGACROC

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Creature weighed three tons and likely grew to more than 30 feet long Looked much like a modern day crocodile except for its narrow snout Ate turtles and fish, and may have scavenged for food as well It would have been a terrifying sight - a giant crocodile twice the size of anything seen today.

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The Postosuchus is a dinosaur that walked very much like today's crocodile. Its name even means "crocodile from the post." This dinosaur was capable of running at extremely fast speeds and had a deep set skulls with large teeth to make it easy to tear through armored prey. This is similar to the strength of today's crocodiles that can easily cut through flesh and bone.

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The Rhamphosuchus is more closely related to the gharial with its long snout very much like the current gharial. This reptile also live around the Indian-sub continent which is where the Indian Gharials are most commonly found. This beast was origionally through to be the largest of the crocodilian family at 49ft to 59ft evidence has also shown it may only be around 24ft.

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This large reptile was similar to the modern crocodile, except almost three times larger. Most Deinosuchus would have been 35ft long while most modern crocodiles are 17ft at most. Also like modern crocodiles, they were apex predators, preying on large dinosaurs, fish, sea turtles, and other aquatic animals.

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Sarcosuchus Imperator also lived around 110 milliong years ago and was estimated to grow up to 40ft. It's closest relative known today is the saltwater crocodile. Similar to crocodiles today, it had a large powerful jaw that is capable to cutting through bones and hard shells.

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This crocodile-like ancestor was much larger than the gators that we know today. Crocodylus Thorbjarnarsoni has been estimated at being 7.5-8 meters long, (24ft) compared to the average crocodile being 17ft at most. Like the common crocodile today it was able to digest bones and flesh in large chunks. It has therefore been speculated that these beasts consumes humans whole

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One of the main characteristics of an animal in order crocodilia is the powerful jaws. However, the shape of these powerful jaws very from specie to specie. The most notable difference between the crocodile, caiman, and gharial, is the long, narrow snout with bulbous growth on the end. While the crocodile also has a long, narrow snout, it is much shorter. However, the caiman neither has a long narrow snout or a bulbous growth. Instead, the caiman has a short rounded snout that is similar to that of an alligator. This is likely due to the location of each species. Both the alligator and caiman are found south in wet, and dense environments like wetlands and jungles. However crocodiles and gharials are found more east in areas like India and Egypt. This shows that the location could be the reason for a divergence within the crocodilia family.

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The relationship shown through this phylogenetic tree helps to prove that there was a common tie between the  crocodile and gharial. While other the American alligator also contains some similarities with the gharial, it is a lot less similar. These differences may have come from the adaptation to location. While the gharial and crocodile can be more commonly found out East, the alligator is found more towards the S. West. The vast difference of location is the most likely cause for the differences between gharials, crocodiles and alligators

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The crocodile diploid number is anywhere between 30-42

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The human diploid number is 46

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Spectaled Caiman
Animalia
Chodate
Reptile
Crocodilia
Alligatoridae
Caiman
Crocodilus

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American Crocodile
Animalia
Chordate
Reptile
Crocodilia
Crocodiles
Crocodylus
Acutus

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Gavial
Animalia
Chordate
Reptile
Crocodilia
Gavialidae
Gavilias
Gangeticus

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Crocodiles have gone from standing up on all fours and running like dogs, to having short stubby legs that in most species, aren't strong enough to hold them up to walk. However the "new" legs are very useful when it comes to swimming. The legs of most species of order crocodilia can easily be tucked under their body so they can swim more efficiently. This change in use shows that these reptiles most likely found more resources and survived better in water.

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The American Crocodile and the Indian gharial, while on opposite sides of the world, are the most closely related. When looking at the chromosomes, the crocodile and gharial have the same number, (16 pairs of chromosomes.) However, these two animals still have many differences, the most noticeable being the lack of bulbous growth on the crocodile. The gharial also has a longer snout than the crocodile however they still have longer snouts than most animals in order crocodilia. This shows that while the two have minor differences, they are also very similar both by physical appearance and biologic makeup. Based on this relationship, it shows that there is most likely an ancestor between the crocodile and gharial

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Spectacle Caimans are commonly found in warmer areas such as places in South America like Peru and Brazil. They are called "Spectacle" because of the bony ridge between their eyes which resembles a pair of glasses. Other features of the caiman include

1. Bony ridge in between eyes

2. Broad/blunt snout

3. Yellow/green colors

4. Black spots and bands on body and tail

Like other animals in order crocodilia, caimans become more aggressive around mating season and are very territorial animals.

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American Crocodiles are reptiles from Order Crocodilia. They are commonly found in wetlands and saltwater environments such as areas like South Florida. Some of their distinguishing characteristics include

1. Long, thin snout

2. two long, visible teeth on lower jaw

3. close-set, overlapping, bony scales

4. four-chambered heart

5. can tuck feet under body when swimming

6. extremely powerful jaws

7. cannot open mouth if it's being held closed

Crocodiles are relatively shy except during mating season when they become aggressive in order to attract a mate. During courting, the males will roar loudly or fight other males to attract a female and the female will respond by roaring back if interested.

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The Indian Gharials are a more rare type of reptile from the crocodile family.  Gharials are most commonly found in the middle east in areas such as India and Nepal. They are known for their large bulbous at the end of their nose and long snout. Other features of the Gharial include

1. large, narrow snout (grows with age)

2. weak legs

3. bulbous nasal passage (grows with age)

4. large, interlocking teeth

5. over-developed and flattened tail

6. bony-plates on top of dorsil

7. thick scales that don’t overlap

The Indian Gharials are shy and passive animals. When attracting a mate, the males will make a buzzing noise that comes from the bulbous growth on the end of their nose.