George Stimpson

The crocodilians are the largest of all living reptiles. This order includes the crocodiles, alligators and gavials, which all attain about the same maximum size. Specimens thirty-three feet long, several feet in diameter and more than two tons in weight have been reported. But there is a tendency to exaggerate the maximum size attained by these giant, lizardlike reptiles. The late Dr. William T. Hornaday, noted [page 59] American naturalist, was of the opinion that no crocodile, alligator or gavial of the present time exceeds twenty feet in length and that specimens even of that length are comparatively rare. Any crocodilian longer than ten or twelve feet may be regarded as of exceptional size.