Anatomical and Topographical Description of the Digestive System of Caiman crocodilus (Linnaeus 1758), Melanosuchus niger (Spix 1825) and Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Cuvier 1807)

this paper describes the digestive system of caiman crocodilus, melanosuchus niger and paleosuchus palpebrosus based on anatomical and topographical inferences. the study involves two digestive systems of c. crocodilus, one of m. niger and one of p. palpebrosus, already fixed in 10% formaldehyde, belonging to the collection of the wild animal research laboratory (lapas) of the federal university of uberlandia. the work begins with a description of the digestive system of the aforementioned crocodilians, followed by topographical associations, aided by photographs taken with a sony？ dsc-h20 camera, x-rays of the gastrointestinal tract and a photograph of the digestive system of c. crocodilus prior to formaldehyding, which also belong to the lapas collection. the results indicate that the digestive system of crocodilians consists of a wide mouth, short pharynx, long straight esophagus, dilated stomach in relation to the rest of the tract, pancreas lodged between the first two ventral duodenal loops, coiled small intestine, large intestine with diameter larger than the preceding segments, and cloaca as the terminal portion of the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems. the anatomical and topographical description of the digestive system of c. crocodilus (linnaeus, 1758) (crocodylia: alligatoridae), m. niger (spix, 1825) (crocodylia: alligatoridae) and p. palpebrosus (cuvier, 1807) (crocodylia: alligatoridae) can be extended to the other crocodilians due to interspecies and intraspecific behavioral similarities.