One of her favorite sites is this site hosted by the Florida Museum of Natural History. (also found at http://crocodilian.com/ ) She has studied the species list and had me quiz her on the scientific names. Phew...she got all but one of them...and there are 23 species! We looked up some of the scientific prefixes and suffixes and learned that suchus comes from Greek for crocodile. (and crocodilos from ancient Greek for lizard.) She already knew what paleo meant. She also told me that the -ensis at the end is Latin and means that it is from that place, as in the American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis.
She loves that site. It has maps showing the distribution of crocodilians worldwide.
They talk about the taxonomy and how they are classified...and the debate about it.
And of course their species list, where you can click on a crocodilian to learn more about it.
There is also extensive information on crocodilian biology, including evolution and morphology.
And it wouldn't be complete without some mention of conservation.
Other sites to check out include:
The Visable Alligator Skull from the University of Texas Morphology Group
Gharial Fact Sheet from the National Zoo (we've visited there!!)
Gharials, Nile Crocodile, American Crocodile, Saltwater Crocodile, American Alligator all at National Geographic.
Why do animals have scientific names? and Make your own scientific name from the San Diego Zoo.
And she made a salt dough crocodile that, once dry, she will paint!
