Question

Crocodiles are _______ animals.
A. Cold blooded
B. Warm blooded
C. Both A and B
D. None of these

Answer 1

Hint: Crocodiles are reptiles that are semi-aquatic animals having partially chambered hearts. The body temperature of crocodiles fluctuates in different surroundings. Crocodiles do not have constant body temperatures.

Complete answer: Crocodiles are semi-aquatic animals belonging to the class Reptilia. All of the reptiles are known to have a three-chambered heart. Crocodiles have partially chambered hearts. It looks like a four-chambered heart but still, it cannot prevent the mixing of blood. So, the crocodiles are tolerant of the mixing of blood and this indicates that they are cold-blooded animals. Crocodiles are not capable of maintaining and regulating their body’s temperature according to their surroundings and thus are cold-blooded animals. The body temperature of crocodiles is not constant and fluctuates with a change in surroundings. They cannot survive in extreme temperatures. Crocodiles depend on water and the sun to regulate their body temperature. During hot seasons, the crocodiles stay in the water and migrate towards land during colder seasons. Crocodiles have a complex metabolism and a complex genomic structure. Cold-blooded animals are usually found in limited terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This is because of their dependence on the environmental temperature. All of the metabolic activities are also maintained by the surrounding environment in cold-blooded animals.
Hence, the correct answer is option A.

Note: An interesting fact about crocodiles is that they lack sweat glands. As sweating helps to regulate the body temperature crocodiles need to adapt some alternate mechanism for the same. Thus, crocodiles release heat through their mouths. They often pant like a dog and may sleep with open mouths.