Crocodiles (subfamily
Crocodylinae) or
true crocodiles are large aquatic
reptiles that live throughout the tropics in
Africa,
Asia, the
Americas and
Australia. Crocodylinae, all of whose members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological
subfamily. A broader sense of the term crocodile,
Crocodylidae that includes
Tomistoma, is not used in this article. The term crocodile here applies only to the species within the subfamily of Crocodylinae. The term is sometimes used even more loosely to include all
extant members of the
order Crocodilia, which includes
Tomistoma, the
alligators and
caimans (family
Alligatoridae), the
gharials (family
Gavialidae), and all other living and fossil
Crocodylomorpha.