Crocodiles range in size from African dwarf crocodiles that measure rarely over 5 feet (1.5 m) to saltwater crocodiles which can approach 23 feet (7 m).
Crocodiles live in rivers, lakes and dams in parts of America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Some of the crocodiles from Australia live in salt water. These saltwater crocodiles are normally bigger than the ones that live in fresh water. While crocodiles spend most of their time in water, they can come out and move around on the land.
Crocodiles cannot breathe underwater: they breathe air, just like people. When they are not active, they can hold their breath for a maximum of about two hours underwater before drowning. Normally, when underwater, they are active and can hold their breath for a maximum of 20 minutes to one hour.
The crocodile looks like it is a log, and hides beneath the surface of the water. When an animal comes down to the water to drink, the crocodile lunges out of the water, grabs the animal in its jaws, and pulls it underwater, where it drowns. After the animal is dead, the crocodile will grab a piece of meat in its jaws and spin around in a "death roll".
Their colors range from brown to grey and have different patterns covering them.They have many shapes and they differ in color. They have sharp claws and teeth. They can also be a greenish-brownish color.Crocodile tongues are not free. They are held in place by a membrane that can not move. Crocodiles are unable to stick out their tongues.
Although there is not much difference in their life-style, biologists put alligators in a separate family. Gharials are also in a separate family, and Caimans are a sub-family of alligators.
The difference between an alligator and a crocodile is that one can not see the fourth tooth in the lower jaw of an alligator when the alligator's mouth is closed. One can see the fourth tooth in the lower jaw of a crocodile when its mouth is closed.
According to scientists, some ancient crocodiles walked on two legs like dinosaurs. The scientists found preserved footprints in South Korea. They found hind foot prints but no front foot prints or marks from a tail dragging behind.
They were able to tell that these ancient crocodiles walked on their hind legs with their front legs and tails off the ground. They used the whole foot, the way a human or bear does, not just the toes, the way a dinosaur, bird or dog does.
Sixteen extant species of crocodile have been discovered. They are:
ZZT
ZZT is a computer game made by Tim Sweeney. People can make other games with this game's engine.
Centre
Centre (British spelling) or center (American spelling) means the middle of something.
The word "centre" often means places or buildings where an activity takes place. Common examples are:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (, "Pëtr Il’ič Čajkovskij"; ) (born Kamsko-Votkinsk, 7 May 1840; died St Petersburg, 6 November 1893; pronounced chai-KOV-skee) was a Russian composer who lived in the Romantic period. He is one of the most popular of all Russian composers. He wrote melodies which were usually dramatic and emotional. He learned a lot from studying the music of Western Europe, but his music also sounds very Russian. His compositions include 11 operas, 3 ballets, orchestral music, chamber music and over 100 songs. His famous ballets ("Swan Lake", "The Nutcracker " and "Sleeping Beauty") have some of the best known tunes in all of romantic music. He is widely regarded as the greatest composer of ballets.
Tchaikovsky’s father was a Ukrainian who worked as a mining engineer. His mother’s grandfather was a Frenchman who had moved to Russia. She was a nervous woman and Tchaikovsky may have gotten his nervous character from her. Tchaikovsky was only five when he started taking piano lessons. He was soon better than his teacher. The family had an orchestrion (a kind of musical box) which played some tunes from classical music by Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini.
In 1848 the family moved to St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky was unhappy and unsettled as he was often separated from his family who moved several times. In 1854 his mother died. He tried to comfort himself by playing music. He spent nine years at the School of Jurisprudence. When he left school, he had to get a job. For four years he worked as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice. Then the composer and pianist Anton Rubinstein helped him to become a music student at the newly opened conservatory in St. Petersburg. He learned to play the flute and the organ as well as the piano and learning all about composition. In 1866 he moved to Moscow where Nikolai Rubinstein, the brother of Anton, encouraged him to write music with a Russian character. He worked very hard, and was often exhausted, but he managed to finish his First Symphony, which was performed in 1868.
Tchaikovsky met some famous musicians including the French composer Berlioz who was visiting Moscow. He also became friendly with the Russian composer Mily Balakirev who was very helpful and persuaded him to rewrite one of his works several times until it was very good. he result was a piece for orchestra called "Romeo and Juliet" which soon became internationally known. Balakirev had four friends who were composers. This circle of friends is often called “The Five” or “The Mighty Handful”. They were interested in using Russian folktunes in their music. Tchaikovsky was never a member of the group, although he liked their ideas. Tchaikovsky was different to them: he had learned music at the Conservatoire where he had studied Western music. The harmonies that he used in his works were often not suitable for Russian folktunes. He wrote many songs which are romantic in character. One of them, "None But the Lonely Heart", is especially well known in English.
By now, Tchaikovsky was writing works which were to make him very famous. He wrote two more symphonies, and his First Piano Concerto, one of the most popular of all piano concertos, was given its first performance in Boston. He was also writing operas and chamber music.
In 1875, Tchaikovsky began making a long tour of Europe. He liked Bizet’s opera "Carmen", but Wagner’s operas from the "Ring cycle "bored him. In 1877 he finished "Swan Lake", the first of his three ballets. The audience did not like it at first because the dancers were not very good.
Tchaikovsky was a closeted homosexual. In the summer of 1877 Tchaikovsky decided to marry. His wife was called Antonina Milyukova. The marriage was a disaster. A few weeks after the marriage, he ran away and never lived with her again.
Another woman was to become important in his life, but in a very different way. It was to be a very unusual relationship. Her name was Nadezhda von Meck. She was the wife of a rich man. She loved Tchaikovsky’s music and promised him that she would pay him a lot of money every month so long as he promised her that he would never try to meet her. Tchaikovsky no longer needed to work. He was able to give up his teaching job at the Conservatory. For several years he spent the winters in Europe and the summers in Russia. Nadezhda and Tchaikovsky wrote long letters to one another, often quite passionate and dreamy they talked about love, life and how they wanted it to change, but they never saw one another. He had plenty of time to write music: he wrote several operas including "Eugene Onegin" and his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, the Violin Concerto, the Serenade for Strings, "Capriccio Italienne" and the "1812 Overture". Tchaikovsky loved Nadezhda very much but never actually told her his true feelings.