Are Crocodiles Reptiles?

Crocodiles are reptiles. All reptiles have a backbone, and scaly skin, are cold-blooded, and lay eggs except for the boa and python, which give birth to live young. Crocodiles possess all of these characteristics.

Crocodiles are the largest of the approximately 9,500 species of reptiles that currently inhabit this planet.   Like all other reptiles, crocodiles are cold-blooded.   This doesn’t mean that a crocodile’s blood is actually cold to the touch.  It means that crocodiles rely upon the environment to regulate their body temperatures.

In a very warm environment, the blood of a cold-blooded reptile, like the crocodile, will be much hotter than warm-blooded animals.  On the other hand, crocodiles are sluggish in cold environments, becoming more active as the ambient temperature rises.

The Advantages of Being a Reptile

Crocodiles, like all reptiles, don’t need to eat as much as warm-blooded animals because they don’t need to generate body heat.  Generating body heat and maintaining constant body temperature requires great energy.  Most of the food a warm-blooded animal eats is converted into food rather than body mass. The opposite is true for reptiles. For example, a 100-pound dog eats more in a year than an 800-pound alligator. This means that reptiles can go for longer periods of time without food.

Reptiles only have rudimentary immune systems because they don’t really need immune systems.  Crocodiles and other reptiles are far less susceptible to infections and other diseases caused or transmitted by viruses, bacteria, and parasites.  These tiny creatures prefer warmer environments.  When crocodiles catch infections, they often seek out colder environments to lower their bodies’ temperatures and kill the responsible microorganisms.

The Disadvantages of Being a Reptile

Reptiles like crocodiles can hardly move in colder environments.  They don’t have enough energy to hunt or reproduce.  Crocodiles and other reptiles must live in warm environments to maintain their metabolisms.  They would have difficulty surviving in many environments that warm-blooded animals adapt to easily.

Resources

The Reptile Database – “Species Statistics as of August 2019”

CalTech – Cool Cosmos – “Warm and Cold-Blooded”

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory – “American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis)”