English

A crocodilian, Alligator sinensis

Noun

crocodilian ‎(plural crocodilians)

1. Any reptile of the order Crocodilia; a crocodile, alligator, caiman or gavial.
   • 1989, Walter P. Coombs, Jr., Modern analogs for dinosaur nesting and parental behavior, James Orville Farlow (editor), Paleobiology of the Dinosaurs, Issue 238, page 47,

     Mound-nesting crocodilians and megapodes appear to be indifferent to nest-site parameters, but susceptibility of crocodilian mound nests to predation or drowning may be altered by site selection.

   • 2001, F. Lynne Bachleda, Dangerous Wildlife in the Southeast, page 33,

     Superb predators, the crocodilians are reptiles, and the only survivors of the archosaurs that included dinosaurs.

   • 2001, Patricia Pope Bartlett, Billy Griswold, Richard D. Bartlett, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Invertebrates: An Identification and Care Guide, page 191,

     Crocodilians are essentially lizard-like in basic shape and are adapted to a largely aquatic life. ln water, they hunt and eat their prey and advertise their size and location by bellowing.