Snipfact:

  American crocodile (southern USA, Mexico, Central and South America) 5 m (16.4 ft) Slender-snouted crocodile (West Africa) 2.5 m (8.2 ft) Orinoco crocodile (northern South America) 6 m (19.7 ft) Australian freshwater crocodile (Australia) 2.5–3 m (8.2–9.8 ft) Philippine crocodile (Philippines) 3 m (9.8 ft) Morelet’s crocodile (Centrel America) 3 m (9.8 ft) Nile crocodile (Africa) 5 m (16.4 ft) New Guinea crocodile (New Guinea) 3.5 m (11.5 ft)

  The crocodile family contains 23 species, including alligators, caimans and gavials. All are large reptiles with long bodies and short legs. most crocodiles have wider, U-shaped snouts. The gavial has long slender jaws – just right for catching fish. In alligators and caimans the teeth of the lower jaw fit into pits in the upper jaw and cannot be seen when the mouth is closed. In crocodiles the fourth tooth on each side of the lower jaw firs into a notch on the upper jaw, so they are always visible. Crocodiles are generally bigger and more aggressive than alligators.

  The coastal taipan of Australia injects the most venom per bite with 120 mg (0.004 oz). Just 1 mg (0.00004 oz) would be enough to kill a person. The common krait’s venom is even more dangerous – only 0.5 mg (0.00002 oz) can be fatal.

  Crocodiles and their relatives spend time on land and in water. There are more than 8,000 species of reptiles, which are divided into the following groups. Lizards 4,765 species Snakes 2,978 species Turtles and tortoises 307 species Amphibaenians (worm lizards) 165 species Crocodiles, alligators, caimans 23 species Tuataras 2 species

  A reptile is a vertebrate animal with a body covered in tough scales. Most reptiles live on land, but turtles and some kinds of snake live in water.

  Queen bees can lay two or three thousand eggs a day – as many as 200,000 eggs a year. They may live as long as five years, so can produce a million eggs.

  Some people are allergic to bee stings, which can even be fata. In 1962 in Rhodesia, Johanne Relleke was stung 2,243 times by wild bees, but survived!