How does an alligator and a crocodile breathe?

Alligators and crocodiles cannot breathe underwater.

They have nostrils on top of their snouts so that they can breathe when they are on the surface of the water with most of their head submerged (their eyes and nostrils can be seen).

American Alligator

When underwater, crocodilians – alligators and crocodiles – must come to the surface to breathe, because they have lungs like humans, not gills like fish.

They can hold their breath under water for more than an hour, but they don’t live under water all the time.

American Alligator

American Alligator

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM