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Crocodiles, alligators and gharials make up the order Crocodilia. All members of the three families are amphibious carnivores and they primarily feed on vertebrate animals. Baby crocs, however, eat insects too. Gharials, the only member of the gharial family is found in north India. Like all members of this order, gharials have a long body with short, stalky legs (hind legs are like paddles) and a thick skin covered with horny scales. They have a long, narrow snout with over 100 small teeth which they use to tear apart fish and frogs in the water. Female crocs crawl out to lay eggs in the pit-like burrow near the river bank. Estuarine crocs ? the largest of crocs ? which grow up to six metres in length are found in south India and south Australia. For years, they have been captured and killed for their skin and the numbers have gone down drastically. Fortunately, killing them today has been made illegal.
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