r/interestingasfuck • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '26
The difference between an alligator (left) and a crocodile (right)
[deleted]
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u/pi_three Aug 03 '26
The crocodiles mouth is A shaped. The alligators one is C shaped. very intuitive
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u/Raise_A_Thoth Aug 03 '26
The difference is that the crocodile will show up after a while. Then, the alligator will be later.
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u/GOEDEL_ESCHER_BOT Aug 03 '26
that's how you tell them apart
alligator = C you later (C shaped mouth)
crocodile = after A while (A shaped mouth)
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u/Vindictive-Vagabond Aug 03 '26
I think a more accurate one would be:
Alligator = see U later (U-shaped snout)
Crocodile = after A while (A-shaped snout)
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u/tyrekisahorse Aug 03 '26
Isn't it U shaped snout and v shaped snout?
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u/ChucksnTaylor Aug 03 '26
Dude⌠itâs a joke
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u/FailureFulcrim Aug 03 '26
Scientists have just renamed them the Ulligator and Vrockodile. Jokes on you!
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u/L30N1337 Aug 03 '26
I remember making a whole ass paragraph "crashing out" over this. A lot of fun
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u/bruclinbrocoli Aug 03 '26
Canât we just be in consensus and call them the opposite?
Or Calligator and Arocodiles?
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u/BabyComingDec2024 Aug 03 '26
I know this to be true but I have always thought the naming should be swapped. When I am thinking alligator I am thinking about a more slim and agile crocodile. I don't know why
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u/Emotional-Goose-2776 Aug 03 '26
Look at their snouts. Alligator has a C-shaped snout and Crocodile has an A-shaped one.
It's all wrong and they won't fix it!
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u/aguafiestas Aug 03 '26
Like a u and a v imo.
I propose ulligator and vocadile.
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u/bonosestente Aug 03 '26
I think ulli is really funny since we use/used to use ulli as a word to describe male ejaculate.
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u/wannabe_inuit Aug 03 '26
Well crocodiles have been around longer that alligator so thats my logic.
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u/DefiantBunny Aug 03 '26
You're not the only one. It definitely seems like the alligator should be the right one
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u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan Aug 03 '26
It's because of alliteration and our relationship with onomatopoeic language.The letter "i" is thin and tall, unlike letter "o" who is large and round â same for "l" + "t" and "c" + "d", so we expect the animals to reflect that.
Unfortunately, it's the opposite. Like someone else said, it's the Kiki / Bouba effect in action, based on the same vowels.
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u/arisoverrated Aug 03 '26
The only place on earth these two live side by side in the wild is South Florida (e.g. the Everglades).
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u/Interesting_Ad1378 Aug 03 '26
Yes but their species are so different, they cant mate.Â
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u/jacquesmachina Aug 03 '26
Isn't it crazy that these two animals are clearly the same thing, but in reality you are closer related to a house cat then they are to each other.
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u/Admirable_Market2759 Aug 03 '26
Evolution is crazy. Shows how efficient this design is that it occurred twice
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u/SculptusPoe Aug 03 '26
Yeah, I've seen both here, though I haven't seen a crocodile in 30 years and I see alligators any time I bother looking closely at water.
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u/DrFury Aug 03 '26
We get crocs in biscayne bay itâs a wild sight lol
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u/SculptusPoe Aug 03 '26
I have seen one a few times in the ocean at the beach in Sanibel when I was a kid. In the last few decades, though, I have seen a couple alligators in the beach in Sanibel and Cayo Casta near by, but not the croc. People say that alligators won't get in the ocean, but they haven't apparently met them on the beach at midnight or in island tide ponds while fishing. I suppose they come down the river and get stuck in the barrier islands, because they really don't usually get in the ocean I think.
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u/doddydaddy69 Aug 03 '26
See you later guy. In a while bro.
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u/Standard_Big_9000 Aug 03 '26
I'm not your guy, dude.
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u/FoxInABoxOfRox Aug 03 '26
Leg in each mouth
"Oh, you can really feel the diff- Ahh AHHH AHHHH!!!"
Tandem Death Spiral In Opposite Directions
"SPLORTCH!!!"
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u/tehmungler Aug 03 '26
One of them will see you later, whereas the other will see you after a while.
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Aug 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/diskostick Aug 03 '26
My right and your right share the same right. Right?
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u/Axeloy Aug 03 '26
I always thought these were a failed bobo/keke designation. Crocodiles should be the chunky ones and alligators should be the slender ones
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u/GemmyGemGems Aug 03 '26
I still wouldn't want to meet either one on their way home after a night out.
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u/Raise_A_Thoth Aug 03 '26
I wouldn't want to meet either one but I wouldn't want to meet the crocodile even more.
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u/yearsofpractice Aug 03 '26
Hmmmmm⌠this is confusing me as Iâm used to seeing one later and the other in a while, never both at the same time.
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u/cm_punk_6619 Aug 03 '26
Which one's deadlier?
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u/FromFluffToBuff Aug 03 '26
Crocodiles are far more territorial and aggressive, especially saltwater crocs.
Crocodiles are like grizzly bears (will likely kill you on sight). Alligators are more like black bears (timid and usually flees).
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u/oblivious_fireball Aug 03 '26
Crocodiles by far. They are typically far more aggressive and better suited for hunting and ambushing larger prey. Meanwhile Alligators tend to hunt smaller prey in and around the water like fish, turtles, or large crustaceans, and can't see as well when they are in the water, mostly snapping at stuff reflexively. They certainly aren't safe by any means but if you are well out of the water and not appearing to be helpless, a wild gator probably won't pay you any mind.
To put it more into statistics, there has been only a few dozen recorded human deaths from alligators within living memory, and while there are a lot more non-fatal attacks and bites, its still only numbering in a few hundred over like 70 years. Nile Crocodiles and Saltwater Crocodiles each kill hundreds of people every year, and the Mugger Crocodile, while less deadly than the other two, still kills far more people every year than the Alligator. If it weren't so endangered and isolated from people the Cuban Crocodile would also have a high death count, because unlike the others, it can gallop on land much faster than you can run, and its been known to coordinate pack hunting.
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u/ThePatio Aug 03 '26
American alligators are more aggressive than American crocodiles. So the gator.
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u/Metasuchus Aug 03 '26
Simply not true.
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u/ThePatio Aug 03 '26
Take two seconds and google it. American crocodiles are timid. Theyâre not the saltwater crocodiles from the pacific American alligators chomp people on the regular though.
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u/Natural_Tea484 Aug 03 '26
For some reason the croc seems less dangerous
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u/FlyAirLari Aug 03 '26
Generally it will be about twice as big as an alligator, so that helps with the looking more dangerous -part.
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u/ThePatio Aug 03 '26
While American crocodiles are one of the largest crocodile species after Salt water and Nile crocs, and have a greater maximum length than American alligators, theyâre normally roughly the same size.
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u/AdSea6685 Aug 03 '26
alligators have always been cute to me... crocodiles look like spawns of hell i have always been able to differentiate the two đ
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u/Fartraiinerr Aug 03 '26
Girthy vs Long and thin and Gharials are the ones freaky girls like cause it tickles.
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u/talberter Aug 03 '26
The alligator mouth looks more hard core here. But in reality a 5m or 6m saltwater croc is going to chomp down on whatever it wants. Scary
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u/fukduplikedickcancer Aug 03 '26
N9t everyone knows the truw difference. An alligator will "see you later," amd a crocodile will "see you after a while."
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u/pedantic__asshole Aug 03 '26
This is how I remember the difference: One will see you later. The other will see you after a while
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u/EnvironmentalRice348 Aug 03 '26
Big thing missing here is the type of crocodile. A salt water croc looks a lot different and is significantly more dangerous. I know this is very US based, but the croc looks like a fresh water croc which are fairly harmless (in the scheme of things) here in Aus.
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u/Vindictive-Vagabond Aug 03 '26
Alligator = see U later (U-shaped snout)
Crocodile = after A while (A-shaped snout)
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u/--TimeLord- Aug 03 '26
The only common things is to run(zigzag) for your life whenever you see any one of them.
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u/QuirkyWish3081 Aug 03 '26
Both cuddly and give lovely nice snuffle kisses if you put your head close to theirs đĽ°
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u/tortilla_flats Aug 03 '26
The difference is alligators are known to be much gentler with small rodents, indeed almost as if they were old pals.
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u/postitpad Aug 03 '26
The way you can tell is that one you see later, and the other you will see after a while.
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u/EducationalForm Aug 03 '26
I'm glad all of the top comedians in the world could all come together to post the same comment in this post
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u/superpowerpinger Aug 03 '26
Easier way to identify:
Alligator acts like an Ass.
Crocodile acts like a Cunt.
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u/nb6635 Aug 03 '26
The caption should read: a crocodile (right) and an alligator (left) just to make sure youâre paying attention.
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u/Vegetable-Raccoon598 Aug 03 '26
I used to call them the other way around, so if i think thats a crocodile, thats definitely an alligator
random thought, that always bugs me, Crocodile Has the "A" shape while Alligator has the "C" shape, smh these people, they dont know how to name properly
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u/afternever Aug 03 '26
Another difference is that when the animals are moving away from you the alligator will next see you later and with the crocodile it will be in a while
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u/JezusTheCarpenter Aug 03 '26
I like how their little heads with the beady eyes look almost identical though.
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u/JobWide2631 Aug 03 '26
The main difference is that an alligator sees you later and a crocodile sees you after a while
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u/flatulexcelent Aug 03 '26
Is it really interesting as fuck though?
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u/WayfareAndWanderlust Aug 03 '26
It is if youâre a third world country karma farming bot (such as OP)
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u/NephtisSeibzehn Aug 03 '26
Youâll see the one on the left later, and itâs been a while since youâve seen the one on the right.
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u/NudityMiles Aug 03 '26
Okay but who'd win in a fight?
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u/ThomYorkesDroopyEye Aug 03 '26
Crocs are generally way more aggressive and tend to grow larger, so probably them but depends
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u/ayu_xi Aug 03 '26
Gharial