{The Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus) is a crocodilian reptile found in much of Central and South America. | It lives in a range of lowland wetland and riverine habitat types and can tolerate salt water as well as fresh; due in part to this adaptabilty it is the most common of all crocodilian species. | Males of the species are generally between 200 and 250 centimeters, while females are smaller, usually around 140 centimeters. | The species common name comes from a bony ridge between the eyes, which gives the appearance of a pair of spectacles. | This species has actually benefited from commercial utilisation and over-hunting of other species within its range (Crocodylus acutus, CROCODYLUS intermedius and Melanosuchus niger), taking over habitat from which it would otherwise have been out-competed by healthy populations. | The skin of CROCODYLUS crocodilus is not ideally suited to tanning, as the ventral scales contain well-developed osteoderms. | Only the lateral flanks provide skin of an acceptable quality for tanning. | Hunting pressures remained relatively low, therefore, until populations of the sympatric crocodilian species became depleted in the 1950s, when hunting of CROCODYLUS crocodilus intensified. | The numbers of caimans harvested since then has been huge, and they currently supply the vast majority of the hide market in America. | Leather from this species is often passed off as Alligator mississippiensis or other species. | Despite pressure from hunting and also collection for the pet trade, however, existing surveys suggest that populations are in relatively good condition in most areas (eg Venezuela). | This seems to reflect the adaptability of the species, its reproductive potential, and the increase in available habitat through the removal of competing species and an increase in man-made water bodies (eg Brazilian Panatal, Colombia, Venezuela). | However, it is these factors which make it difficult to determine the overall status of the species, as populations are faring less well in other areas – surveys reveal severe depletion in El Salvador. | More up to date surveys are required for clarification, and to examine the interactions between the different subspecies. | Further taxonomic work would make control measures easier to implement, as currently identification of different subspecies can be difficult. | The major threat to this species and its subspecies is currently illegal hunting. | Smuggling rings operating through Thailand and Singapore are extremely damaging to individual populations, and greater control measures and more effective legislation are needed. | The subspecies CROCODYLUS crocodylus apaporiensis is under severe threat in Colombia. | Feral populations of CROCODYLUS crocodilus are creating problems for other species of crocodilians and native wildlife, however. | These populations have become established in three countries. | The introduced population in Cuba is thought to have been primarily responsibly for the dramatic decline and probable disappearance of Crocodylus rhombifer from the Isle of Pines. | Sustainable use programs are well developed in several countries. | Most of these rely upon regular cropping of wild populations. | The long-term effects of this cropping need to be investigated. | The reproductive potential of this species makes properly controlled sustainable yield programs look promising. | Farming and ranching programs, while they exist, may be uneconomical in the long run, given the value of the hide and the number of animals which need to be culled in order to produce a profitable amount of hide. | It lives in a range of lowland wetland and riverine habitat types and can tolerate salt water as well as fresh; due in part to this adaptability it is the most common of all crocodilian species. | Males of the species are generally between 200 and 250 centimeters, while females are smaller, usually around 1. |4 meters. | The species common name comes from a bony ridge between the eyes, which gives the appearance of a pair of spectacles. | Spectacled Caiman have strongly protective maternal behavior. | They raise their young in creches, one female taking care of her own as well as several others offspring. | DIET
Juveniles take a variety of aquatic invertebrates (insects, crustaceans, mollusks). | As they grow, various vertebrates take up a greater percentage of the diet. | These include fish, amphibians, reptiles and water birds. | Older animals are capable of taking larger, mammalian prey (eg wild pigs). | Observations show that as conditions become drier, caimans stop feeding. | Cannibalism has been reported under such conditions. | The ecological importance of this species has been demonstrated in terms of nutrient recycling – nitrogenous waste re-enters the ecosystem to the benefit of other plants and animals. | In areas where this species has become depleted, fish populations have also shown a decline. | They are also reputed to control piranha numbers. | While it has been stated that little evidence is available to support this, CROCODYLUS yacare does demonstrate this particular dietary preference. | In reality, it is likely that CROCODYLUS crocodilus is very much a generalist and adaptive predator, given its ecological success. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||}

{The Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus) is a crocodilian reptile found in much of Central and South America. | It lives in a range of lowland wetland and riverine habitat types and can tolerate salt water as well as fresh; due in part to this adaptabilty it is the most common of all crocodilian species. | Males of the species are generally between 200 and 250 centimeters, while females are smaller, usually around 140 centimeters. | The species common name comes from a bony ridge between the eyes, which gives the appearance of a pair of spectacles. | This species has actually benefited from commercial utilisation and over-hunting of other species within its range (Crocodylus acutus, CROCODYLUS intermedius and Melanosuchus niger), taking over habitat from which it would otherwise have been out-competed by healthy populations. | The skin of CROCODYLUS crocodilus is not ideally suited to tanning, as the ventral scales contain well-developed osteoderms. | Only the lateral flanks provide skin of an acceptable quality for tanning. | Hunting pressures remained relatively low, therefore, until populations of the sympatric crocodilian species became depleted in the 1950s, when hunting of CROCODYLUS crocodilus intensified. | The numbers of caimans harvested since then has been huge, and they currently supply the vast majority of the hide market in America. | Leather from this species is often passed off as Alligator mississippiensis or other species. | Despite pressure from hunting and also collection for the pet trade, however, existing surveys suggest that populations are in relatively good condition in most areas (eg Venezuela). | This seems to reflect the adaptability of the species, its reproductive potential, and the increase in available habitat through the removal of competing species and an increase in man-made water bodies (eg Brazilian Panatal, Colombia, Venezuela). | However, it is these factors which make it difficult to determine the overall status of the species, as populations are faring less well in other areas – surveys reveal severe depletion in El Salvador. | More up to date surveys are required for clarification, and to examine the interactions between the different subspecies. | Further taxonomic work would make control measures easier to implement, as currently identification of different subspecies can be difficult. | The major threat to this species and its subspecies is currently illegal hunting. | Smuggling rings operating through Thailand and Singapore are extremely damaging to individual populations, and greater control measures and more effective legislation are needed. | The subspecies CROCODYLUS crocodylus apaporiensis is under severe threat in Colombia. | Feral populations of CROCODYLUS crocodilus are creating problems for other species of crocodilians and native wildlife, however. | These populations have become established in three countries. | The introduced population in Cuba is thought to have been primarily responsibly for the dramatic decline and probable disappearance of Crocodylus rhombifer from the Isle of Pines. | Sustainable use programs are well developed in several countries. | Most of these rely upon regular cropping of wild populations. | The long-term effects of this cropping need to be investigated. | The reproductive potential of this species makes properly controlled sustainable yield programs look promising. | Farming and ranching programs, while they exist, may be uneconomical in the long run, given the value of the hide and the number of animals which need to be culled in order to produce a profitable amount of hide. | It lives in a range of lowland wetland and riverine habitat types and can tolerate salt water as well as fresh; due in part to this adaptability it is the most common of all crocodilian species. | Males of the species are generally between 200 and 250 centimeters, while females are smaller, usually around 1. |4 meters. | The species common name comes from a bony ridge between the eyes, which gives the appearance of a pair of spectacles. | Spectacled Caiman have strongly protective maternal behavior. | They raise their young in creches, one female taking care of her own as well as several others offspring. | DIET
Juveniles take a variety of aquatic invertebrates (insects, crustaceans, mollusks). | As they grow, various vertebrates take up a greater percentage of the diet. | These include fish, amphibians, reptiles and water birds. | Older animals are capable of taking larger, mammalian prey (eg wild pigs). | Observations show that as conditions become drier, caimans stop feeding. | Cannibalism has been reported under such conditions. | The ecological importance of this species has been demonstrated in terms of nutrient recycling – nitrogenous waste re-enters the ecosystem to the benefit of other plants and animals. | In areas where this species has become depleted, fish populations have also shown a decline. | They are also reputed to control piranha numbers. | While it has been stated that little evidence is available to support this, CROCODYLUS yacare does demonstrate this particular dietary preference. | In reality, it is likely that CROCODYLUS crocodilus is very much a generalist and adaptive predator, given its ecological success. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||}

{An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. | The name alligator is an anglicized form of the Spanish el lagarto (the lizard), the name by which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. | There are two living alligator species: the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis). | The Alligator has been described as a living fossil from the Age of Reptiles, having survived on earth for 200 million years. | An average American alligators weight and length is 800 lbs (360 kg) and 13 feet (4 m) long. | According to the Everglades National Park website, the largest alligator ever recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches long (5-6m), although according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission web site the Florida state record for length is a 14 foot 5/8 inch male from Lake Monroe in Seminole County. | The Florida record for weight is a 1,043 pound (13 feet 10 1/2 inches long) male from Orange Lake in Alachua County. | The largest alligator ever recorded in Alabama measured 12 feet 08 inches (3-4 m). | The largest alligator ever recorded measured 19 feet 3 inches (580 cm) and was found on Marsh Island, Louisiana. | Few of the giant specimens were weighed, but the larger ones could have exceeded a ton in weight. | The Chinese Alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 7 feet (2 m) in length. | An alligators lifespan is usually estimated in the range of 50 years or more. | A specimen named Muja has resided in the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia since 1937, making it at least 71 years old. | Another specimen, ?abul?tis, in Riga Zoo, Latvia died in 2007 being more than 72 years old. | Alligators are native to only two countries: the United States and China. | American Alligators are found in the subtropical southeast US: all of Florida and Louisiana; the southern parts of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; coastal South and North Carolina; Southeastern Texas and in extreme southeastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. | The majority of American Alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana, with over a million alligators in each state. | American Alligators live in freshwater environments, such as ponds, marshes, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and swamps, as well as brackish environments. | Southern Florida is the only place where both alligators and crocodiles live side by side. | The Chinese alligator currently is found only in the Yangtze River valley and is extremely endangered, with only a few dozen believed to be left in the wild. | Indeed, far more Chinese alligators live in zoos around the world than can be found in the wild. | For example, Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in southern Louisiana has several in captivity in an attempt to preserve the species. | Miami-Dade County Zoo in Miami,FL also has a breeding pair of Chinese alligators. | Large male alligators are solitary, territorial animals. | Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers in close proximity to each other. | The largest of the species (both males and females), will defend prime territory; smaller alligators have a higher tolerance of other alligators within a similar size class. | Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed, especially in very short lunges. | Alligators main prey are smaller animals that they can kill and eat with a single bite. | Alligators may kill larger prey by grabbing it and dragging it in the water to drown. | Alligators consume food that cannot be eaten in one bite by allowing it to rot or by biting and then spinning or convulsing wildly until bite-size pieces are torn off. | This is referred to as the death roll. | A hard-wired response developed over millions of years of evolution, even juvenile alligators execute death rolls when presented with chunks of meat. | Critical to the alligators ability to initiate a death roll, the tail must flex to a significant angle relative to its body. | Immobilizing an alligators tail incapacitates its ability to begin a death roll. | Most of the muscle in an alligators jaw is intended for biting and gripping prey. | The muscles that close the jaws are exceptionally powerful, however the muscles for opening their jaws are relatively weak in comparison. | As a result, an adult man can hold an alligators jaw shut with his bare hands. | In general, a strip of duct tape is enough to prevent an adult alligator from opening its jaws and is one of the most common methods used when alligators are to be captured and/or transported. | Alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. | Unfortunately, this has led some people to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a way that may provoke the animals into attacking. | There are federal laws that prohibit feeding of the alligators in several locations where they can be found; however, some people choose to ignore these. | If fed, the alligators will eventually lose their fear of humans and may, in turn, choose to approach human settlements rather than moving away. | When young they eat fish, insects, snails, crustaceans, and worms. | As they grow, they take progressively larger prey items, including larger fish such as gar, turtles, various mammals, birds, antelope and other reptiles. | Their stomachs also often contain gastroliths. | They will even consume carrion if they are sufficiently hungry. | Adult alligators can take razorbacks and deer and are well known to kill and eat smaller alligators. | In some cases, larger alligators have been known to hunt the Florida panther and bears, making it the apex predator throughout its distribution. | As humans encroach onto their habitat, attacks on humans are few but not unknown. | Alligators, unlike the large crocodiles, do not immediately regard a human upon encounter as prey, but may still attack in self-defense if provoked. | Alligators generally mature at a length of six feet (180 cm). | The mating season is in spring. | The female builds a nest of vegetation where the decomposition of the vegetation provides the heat needed to incubate the eggs. | The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature in the nest and is fixed within 7 to 21 days of the start of incubation. | Incubation temperatures of 30 °C (86 °F) or lower produce a clutch of females; those of 34 °C (93 °F) or higher produce entirely males. | Nests constructed on levees are hotter than those constructed on wet marsh and, thus, the former tend to produce males and the latter, females. | The natural sex ratio at hatching is five females to one male. | Females hatched from eggs incubated at 30 °C weigh significantly more than males hatched from eggs incubated at 34 °C. | The mother will defend the nest from predators and will assist the hatchlings to water. | She will provide protection to the young for about a year if they remain in the area. | The largest threat to the young are adult alligators. | Predation by adults on young can account for a mortality rate of up to fifty percent in the first year. | In the past, immediately following the outlawing of alligator hunting, populations rebounded quickly due to the suppressed number of adults preying upon the new recruits, increasing survival among the young alligators. | The mother keeps the young for one year. | Alligator farming is a big and growing industry in Florida, Texas and Louisiana. | These states produce a combined annual total of some 45,000 alligator hides. | Alligator hides bring good prices and hides in the 6-7 foot (1-2 m) range have sold for $300 each, though the price can fluctuate considerably from year to year. | The market for alligator meat is growing and approximately 300,000 pounds (140 000 kg) of meat is produced annually. | According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, raw alligator meat contains roughly 200 calories per 3oz (85 g) serving size, of which 27 calories come from fat. | While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families. | Every type of crocodile, except the American crocodile, is usually larger and heavier than alligators, has fewer teeth, and has a shorter life-span. | Alligators differ from crocodiles principally in having wider and shorter heads, with more obtuse snouts; in having the fourth, enlarged tooth of the under jaw received, not into an external notch, but into a pit formed for it within the upper one; in lacking a jagged fringe which appears on the hind legs and feet of the crocodile; in having the toes of the hind feet webbed not more than half way to the tips; and an intolerance to salinity. | Alligators strongly prefer fresh water, while crocodiles can tolerate salt water due to specialized glands for filtering out salt. | In general, crocodiles tend to be more dangerous to humans than alligators. | Both species of alligator also tend to be darker in color, often nearly black but color is very dependent on the water. | Algae-laden waters produce greener alligators; alligators from waters with a lot of tannic acid from overhanging trees are often darker (although the Chinese alligator has some light patterning. |) Also, in alligators only the upper teeth can be seen with the jaws closed, in contrast to true crocodiles, in which upper and lower teeth can be seen. | However, many individuals bear jaw deformities which complicate this means of identification. | Alligators are not nearly as dangerous and not as daring as crocodiles, for crocodiles sometimes prey on other crocodiles; and alligators rarely prey on other alligators. | As for appearance, one generally reliable rule is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped. | Crocodiles have a longer narrower snout, with eyes farther forward. | Also, if one looks at an alligator and then a crocodile, one will notice a difference in their mouths: only the upper teeth are visible when an alligators mouth is closed, while a crocodiles mouth will reveal both upper and lower teeth, as their fourth tooth sticks out from the lower jaw, rather than fitting neatly into the upper jaw. | Crocodiles also tend to have green eyes, while alligators have brown ones. | Another distinction can be drawn between the jaws of the two animals. | Crocodiles jaws are much more narrow and are used to tear and grip on prey. | By contrast, alligators jaws are meant to crush bones, and can deliver a bite force of up to 3000 psi 20 MPa, although some evidence exists that larger species of crocodile may in fact possess a bite force of 5000 psi. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||}

{An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. | The name alligator is an anglicized form of the Spanish el lagarto (the lizard), the name by which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. | There are two living alligator species: the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis). | The Alligator has been described as a living fossil from the Age of Reptiles, having survived on earth for 200 million years. | An average American alligators weight and length is 800 lbs (360 kg) and 13 feet (4 m) long. | According to the Everglades National Park website, the largest alligator ever recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches long (5-6m), although according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission web site the Florida state record for length is a 14 foot 5/8 inch male from Lake Monroe in Seminole County. | The Florida record for weight is a 1,043 pound (13 feet 10 1/2 inches long) male from Orange Lake in Alachua County. | The largest alligator ever recorded in Alabama measured 12 feet 08 inches (3-4 m). | The largest alligator ever recorded measured 19 feet 3 inches (580 cm) and was found on Marsh Island, Louisiana. | Few of the giant specimens were weighed, but the larger ones could have exceeded a ton in weight. | The Chinese Alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 7 feet (2 m) in length. | An alligators lifespan is usually estimated in the range of 50 years or more. | A specimen named Muja has resided in the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia since 1937, making it at least 71 years old. | Another specimen, ?abul?tis, in Riga Zoo, Latvia died in 2007 being more than 72 years old. | Alligators are native to only two countries: the United States and China. | American Alligators are found in the subtropical southeast US: all of Florida and Louisiana; the southern parts of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; coastal South and North Carolina; Southeastern Texas and in extreme southeastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. | The majority of American Alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana, with over a million alligators in each state. | American Alligators live in freshwater environments, such as ponds, marshes, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and swamps, as well as brackish environments. | Southern Florida is the only place where both alligators and crocodiles live side by side. | The Chinese alligator currently is found only in the Yangtze River valley and is extremely endangered, with only a few dozen believed to be left in the wild. | Indeed, far more Chinese alligators live in zoos around the world than can be found in the wild. | For example, Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in southern Louisiana has several in captivity in an attempt to preserve the species. | Miami-Dade County Zoo in Miami,FL also has a breeding pair of Chinese alligators. | Large male alligators are solitary, territorial animals. | Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers in close proximity to each other. | The largest of the species (both males and females), will defend prime territory; smaller alligators have a higher tolerance of other alligators within a similar size class. | Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed, especially in very short lunges. | Alligators main prey are smaller animals that they can kill and eat with a single bite. | Alligators may kill larger prey by grabbing it and dragging it in the water to drown. | Alligators consume food that cannot be eaten in one bite by allowing it to rot or by biting and then spinning or convulsing wildly until bite-size pieces are torn off. | This is referred to as the death roll. | A hard-wired response developed over millions of years of evolution, even juvenile alligators execute death rolls when presented with chunks of meat. | Critical to the alligators ability to initiate a death roll, the tail must flex to a significant angle relative to its body. | Immobilizing an alligators tail incapacitates its ability to begin a death roll. | Most of the muscle in an alligators jaw is intended for biting and gripping prey. | The muscles that close the jaws are exceptionally powerful, however the muscles for opening their jaws are relatively weak in comparison. | As a result, an adult man can hold an alligators jaw shut with his bare hands. | In general, a strip of duct tape is enough to prevent an adult alligator from opening its jaws and is one of the most common methods used when alligators are to be captured and/or transported. | Alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. | Unfortunately, this has led some people to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a way that may provoke the animals into attacking. | There are federal laws that prohibit feeding of the alligators in several locations where they can be found; however, some people choose to ignore these. | If fed, the alligators will eventually lose their fear of humans and may, in turn, choose to approach human settlements rather than moving away. | When young they eat fish, insects, snails, crustaceans, and worms. | As they grow, they take progressively larger prey items, including larger fish such as gar, turtles, various mammals, birds, antelope and other reptiles. | Their stomachs also often contain gastroliths. | They will even consume carrion if they are sufficiently hungry. | Adult alligators can take razorbacks and deer and are well known to kill and eat smaller alligators. | In some cases, larger alligators have been known to hunt the Florida panther and bears, making it the apex predator throughout its distribution. | As humans encroach onto their habitat, attacks on humans are few but not unknown. | Alligators, unlike the large crocodiles, do not immediately regard a human upon encounter as prey, but may still attack in self-defense if provoked. | Alligators generally mature at a length of six feet (180 cm). | The mating season is in spring. | The female builds a nest of vegetation where the decomposition of the vegetation provides the heat needed to incubate the eggs. | The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature in the nest and is fixed within 7 to 21 days of the start of incubation. | Incubation temperatures of 30 °C (86 °F) or lower produce a clutch of females; those of 34 °C (93 °F) or higher produce entirely males. | Nests constructed on levees are hotter than those constructed on wet marsh and, thus, the former tend to produce males and the latter, females. | The natural sex ratio at hatching is five females to one male. | Females hatched from eggs incubated at 30 °C weigh significantly more than males hatched from eggs incubated at 34 °C. | The mother will defend the nest from predators and will assist the hatchlings to water. | She will provide protection to the young for about a year if they remain in the area. | The largest threat to the young are adult alligators. | Predation by adults on young can account for a mortality rate of up to fifty percent in the first year. | In the past, immediately following the outlawing of alligator hunting, populations rebounded quickly due to the suppressed number of adults preying upon the new recruits, increasing survival among the young alligators. | The mother keeps the young for one year. | Alligator farming is a big and growing industry in Florida, Texas and Louisiana. | These states produce a combined annual total of some 45,000 alligator hides. | Alligator hides bring good prices and hides in the 6-7 foot (1-2 m) range have sold for $300 each, though the price can fluctuate considerably from year to year. | The market for alligator meat is growing and approximately 300,000 pounds (140 000 kg) of meat is produced annually. | According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, raw alligator meat contains roughly 200 calories per 3oz (85 g) serving size, of which 27 calories come from fat. | While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families. | Every type of crocodile, except the American crocodile, is usually larger and heavier than alligators, has fewer teeth, and has a shorter life-span. | Alligators differ from crocodiles principally in having wider and shorter heads, with more obtuse snouts; in having the fourth, enlarged tooth of the under jaw received, not into an external notch, but into a pit formed for it within the upper one; in lacking a jagged fringe which appears on the hind legs and feet of the crocodile; in having the toes of the hind feet webbed not more than half way to the tips; and an intolerance to salinity. | Alligators strongly prefer fresh water, while crocodiles can tolerate salt water due to specialized glands for filtering out salt. | In general, crocodiles tend to be more dangerous to humans than alligators. | Both species of alligator also tend to be darker in color, often nearly black but color is very dependent on the water. | Algae-laden waters produce greener alligators; alligators from waters with a lot of tannic acid from overhanging trees are often darker (although the Chinese alligator has some light patterning. |) Also, in alligators only the upper teeth can be seen with the jaws closed, in contrast to true crocodiles, in which upper and lower teeth can be seen. | However, many individuals bear jaw deformities which complicate this means of identification. | Alligators are not nearly as dangerous and not as daring as crocodiles, for crocodiles sometimes prey on other crocodiles; and alligators rarely prey on other alligators. | As for appearance, one generally reliable rule is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped. | Crocodiles have a longer narrower snout, with eyes farther forward. | Also, if one looks at an alligator and then a crocodile, one will notice a difference in their mouths: only the upper teeth are visible when an alligators mouth is closed, while a crocodiles mouth will reveal both upper and lower teeth, as their fourth tooth sticks out from the lower jaw, rather than fitting neatly into the upper jaw. | Crocodiles also tend to have green eyes, while alligators have brown ones. | Another distinction can be drawn between the jaws of the two animals. | Crocodiles jaws are much more narrow and are used to tear and grip on prey. | By contrast, alligators jaws are meant to crush bones, and can deliver a bite force of up to 3000 psi 20 MPa, although some evidence exists that larger species of crocodile may in fact possess a bite force of 5000 psi. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||}

{An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. | The name alligator is an anglicized form of the Spanish el lagarto (the lizard), the name by which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. | There are two living alligator species: the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis). | The Alligator has been described as a living fossil from the Age of Reptiles, having survived on earth for 200 million years. | An average American alligators weight and length is 800 lbs (360 kg) and 13 feet (4 m) long. | According to the Everglades National Park website, the largest alligator ever recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches long (5-6m), although according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission web site the Florida state record for length is a 14 foot 5/8 inch male from Lake Monroe in Seminole County. | The Florida record for weight is a 1,043 pound (13 feet 10 1/2 inches long) male from Orange Lake in Alachua County. | The largest alligator ever recorded in Alabama measured 12 feet 08 inches (3-4 m). | The largest alligator ever recorded measured 19 feet 3 inches (580 cm) and was found on Marsh Island, Louisiana. | Few of the giant specimens were weighed, but the larger ones could have exceeded a ton in weight. | The Chinese Alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 7 feet (2 m) in length. | An alligators lifespan is usually estimated in the range of 50 years or more. | A specimen named Muja has resided in the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia since 1937, making it at least 71 years old. | Another specimen, ?abul?tis, in Riga Zoo, Latvia died in 2007 being more than 72 years old. | Alligators are native to only two countries: the United States and China. | American Alligators are found in the subtropical southeast US: all of Florida and Louisiana; the southern parts of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; coastal South and North Carolina; Southeastern Texas and in extreme southeastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. | The majority of American Alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana, with over a million alligators in each state. | American Alligators live in freshwater environments, such as ponds, marshes, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and swamps, as well as brackish environments. | Southern Florida is the only place where both alligators and crocodiles live side by side. | The Chinese alligator currently is found only in the Yangtze River valley and is extremely endangered, with only a few dozen believed to be left in the wild. | Indeed, far more Chinese alligators live in zoos around the world than can be found in the wild. | For example, Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in southern Louisiana has several in captivity in an attempt to preserve the species. | Miami-Dade County Zoo in Miami,FL also has a breeding pair of Chinese alligators. | Large male alligators are solitary, territorial animals. | Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers in close proximity to each other. | The largest of the species (both males and females), will defend prime territory; smaller alligators have a higher tolerance of other alligators within a similar size class. | Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed, especially in very short lunges. | Alligators main prey are smaller animals that they can kill and eat with a single bite. | Alligators may kill larger prey by grabbing it and dragging it in the water to drown. | Alligators consume food that cannot be eaten in one bite by allowing it to rot or by biting and then spinning or convulsing wildly until bite-size pieces are torn off. | This is referred to as the death roll. | A hard-wired response developed over millions of years of evolution, even juvenile alligators execute death rolls when presented with chunks of meat. | Critical to the alligators ability to initiate a death roll, the tail must flex to a significant angle relative to its body. | Immobilizing an alligators tail incapacitates its ability to begin a death roll. | Most of the muscle in an alligators jaw is intended for biting and gripping prey. | The muscles that close the jaws are exceptionally powerful, however the muscles for opening their jaws are relatively weak in comparison. | As a result, an adult man can hold an alligators jaw shut with his bare hands. | In general, a strip of duct tape is enough to prevent an adult alligator from opening its jaws and is one of the most common methods used when alligators are to be captured and/or transported. | Alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. | Unfortunately, this has led some people to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a way that may provoke the animals into attacking. | There are federal laws that prohibit feeding of the alligators in several locations where they can be found; however, some people choose to ignore these. | If fed, the alligators will eventually lose their fear of humans and may, in turn, choose to approach human settlements rather than moving away. | When young they eat fish, insects, snails, crustaceans, and worms. | As they grow, they take progressively larger prey items, including larger fish such as gar, turtles, various mammals, birds, antelope and other reptiles. | Their stomachs also often contain gastroliths. | They will even consume carrion if they are sufficiently hungry. | Adult alligators can take razorbacks and deer and are well known to kill and eat smaller alligators. | In some cases, larger alligators have been known to hunt the Florida panther and bears, making it the apex predator throughout its distribution. | As humans encroach onto their habitat, attacks on humans are few but not unknown. | Alligators, unlike the large crocodiles, do not immediately regard a human upon encounter as prey, but may still attack in self-defense if provoked. | Alligators generally mature at a length of six feet (180 cm). | The mating season is in spring. | The female builds a nest of vegetation where the decomposition of the vegetation provides the heat needed to incubate the eggs. | The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature in the nest and is fixed within 7 to 21 days of the start of incubation. | Incubation temperatures of 30 °C (86 °F) or lower produce a clutch of females; those of 34 °C (93 °F) or higher produce entirely males. | Nests constructed on levees are hotter than those constructed on wet marsh and, thus, the former tend to produce males and the latter, females. | The natural sex ratio at hatching is five females to one male. | Females hatched from eggs incubated at 30 °C weigh significantly more than males hatched from eggs incubated at 34 °C. | The mother will defend the nest from predators and will assist the hatchlings to water. | She will provide protection to the young for about a year if they remain in the area. | The largest threat to the young are adult alligators. | Predation by adults on young can account for a mortality rate of up to fifty percent in the first year. | In the past, immediately following the outlawing of alligator hunting, populations rebounded quickly due to the suppressed number of adults preying upon the new recruits, increasing survival among the young alligators. | The mother keeps the young for one year. | Alligator farming is a big and growing industry in Florida, Texas and Louisiana. | These states produce a combined annual total of some 45,000 alligator hides. | Alligator hides bring good prices and hides in the 6-7 foot (1-2 m) range have sold for $300 each, though the price can fluctuate considerably from year to year. | The market for alligator meat is growing and approximately 300,000 pounds (140 000 kg) of meat is produced annually. | According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, raw alligator meat contains roughly 200 calories per 3oz (85 g) serving size, of which 27 calories come from fat. | While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families. | Every type of crocodile, except the American crocodile, is usually larger and heavier than alligators, has fewer teeth, and has a shorter life-span. | Alligators differ from crocodiles principally in having wider and shorter heads, with more obtuse snouts; in having the fourth, enlarged tooth of the under jaw received, not into an external notch, but into a pit formed for it within the upper one; in lacking a jagged fringe which appears on the hind legs and feet of the crocodile; in having the toes of the hind feet webbed not more than half way to the tips; and an intolerance to salinity. | Alligators strongly prefer fresh water, while crocodiles can tolerate salt water due to specialized glands for filtering out salt. | In general, crocodiles tend to be more dangerous to humans than alligators. | Both species of alligator also tend to be darker in color, often nearly black but color is very dependent on the water. | Algae-laden waters produce greener alligators; alligators from waters with a lot of tannic acid from overhanging trees are often darker (although the Chinese alligator has some light patterning. |) Also, in alligators only the upper teeth can be seen with the jaws closed, in contrast to true crocodiles, in which upper and lower teeth can be seen. | However, many individuals bear jaw deformities which complicate this means of identification. | Alligators are not nearly as dangerous and not as daring as crocodiles, for crocodiles sometimes prey on other crocodiles; and alligators rarely prey on other alligators. | As for appearance, one generally reliable rule is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped. | Crocodiles have a longer narrower snout, with eyes farther forward. | Also, if one looks at an alligator and then a crocodile, one will notice a difference in their mouths: only the upper teeth are visible when an alligators mouth is closed, while a crocodiles mouth will reveal both upper and lower teeth, as their fourth tooth sticks out from the lower jaw, rather than fitting neatly into the upper jaw. | Crocodiles also tend to have green eyes, while alligators have brown ones. | Another distinction can be drawn between the jaws of the two animals. | Crocodiles jaws are much more narrow and are used to tear and grip on prey. | By contrast, alligators jaws are meant to crush bones, and can deliver a bite force of up to 3000 psi 20 MPa, although some evidence exists that larger species of crocodile may in fact possess a bite force of 5000 psi. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||}

{The Nile Crocodile Crocodylus niloticus is one of the three species of the crocodiles found in Africa, and the second largest species of crocodile. | Nile crocodiles can be found throughout most of Africa south of the Sahara, and on the island of Madagascar. | The Nile crocodile can, and sometimes will, easily snatch and devour a human. | While it is no longer threatened with extinction as a species, the population in many countries is in danger of vanishing. | Like all crocodiles, they are quadrupeds with four short, splayed legs; long, powerful tails; a scaly hide with rows of ossified scutes running down their back and tail; and powerful jaws. | They have nictitating membranes to protect their eyes and, despite the myths, they do have lachrymal glands, and can cleanse their eyes with tears. | Nostrils, eyes, and ears are situated on the tops of their head, so the rest of the body can remain concealed underwater. | Their coloration also helps them hide: Juveniles are grey, dark olive, or brown; with darker cross-bands on their tail and body. | As they mature they become darker and the cross-bands fade, especially those on the body. | The underbelly is yellowish, and makes high-quality leather. | They normally crawl along on their bellies, but they can also high walk with their trunks raised above the ground. | Smaller specimens can gallop, and even larger crocodiles are capable of surprising bursts of speeds, briefly reaching up to 12 to 14 km/h (7 to 8 mi/h). | They can swim much faster by moving their body and tail in a sinouous fashion, and they can sustain this form of movement much longer at about 30 to 35 km/h. | They have a four-chambered heart, like a bird, which is especially efficient at oxygenating their blood. | They normally dive for only a couple of minutes, but will stay underwater for up to 30 minutes if threatened, and if they remain inactive they can hold their breath for up to 2 hours. | They have an ectothermic metabolism, so they can survive a long time between meals — though when they do eat, they can eat up to half their body weight at a time. | They have a rich vocal range, and good hearing. | Their skin has a number of poorly-understood integumentary sense organs (ISOs), that may react to changes in water pressure. | Their jaws are capable of exerting impressive force as they hold on to their prey. | Their mouths are filled with a total of 64 to 68 cone-shaped teeth. | On each side of the mouth, there are 5 teeth in the front of the upper jaw (the premaxilla), 13 or 14 in the rest of the upper jaw (the maxilla), and 14 or 15 on either side of the lower jaw (the mandible). | Hatchlings quickly lose a hardened piece of skin on the top of their mouth called the egg tooth, which they use to break through their eggs shell at birth. | Nile crocodiles in captivity have lived up to 80 years, but scientists estimate that in their natural habitat, they can live 45 years. | The Nile crocodile is the largest African crocodilian and is sometimes regarded as the second largest crocodilian after the Saltwater crocodile, usually measuring between 3. |3 and 5 m (11 and 16 feet), exceptionally to 6 m (20 ft). | Good sized males weigh 500 kg (1100 lb), but can also reach up to 2000 lbs (909 kg). | The largest accurately measured male was shot near Mwanza, Tanzania and measured 645 cm (21-22 ft) and weighed aproximately 1,090 kg (2,400 lb). | Like all crocodiles they are sexually dimorphic, with the males up to 30% larger than the females, though the difference is even less in some species, like the Saltwater crocodile. | Seven meters (23 ft) and larger specimens have been reported, but since gross overestimation of size is common these reports are suspect. | The largest living specimen is purported to be a notorious man-eater from Burundi named Gustave; he is believed to be approximately 20-30 feet long. | Such giants are rare today; before the heavy hunting of the 1940s and 1950s, a larger population base and more extensive wetland habitats meant more giants. | There is some evidence that Nile crocodiles from cooler climates like the southern tip of Africa are smaller, and may reach lengths of only 4 m (13 ft). | Dwarf Nile crocodiles also exist in Mali and in the Sahara desert, which reach only 2 to 3 m (6 to 10 ft) in length. | Their reduced size is probably the result of the less than ideal environmental conditions, not genetics. | The bite force exerted by an adult Nile crocodile was thought to be about 3,000 lbf (13 kN). | However, new work by Brady Barr has revealed that in fact the bite of a Nile crocodile can be 5,000 lbf (22 kN) or more. | However the muscles responsible for opening the mouth are exceptionally weak, allowing a man to easily hold them shut with a small amount of force. | Hatchlings eat insects and small aquatic invertebrates, and quickly graduate to amphibians, reptiles, and birds. | But even as an adult, a significant portion of a Nile crocodiles diet is fish and other small vertebrates. | However adult crocodiles prefer to consume larger prey to conserve energy. | In the absence of large prey, they gradually have to move onto smaller prey. | Nile crocodiles have a very broad diet and can potentially eat nearly any animal that comes to take a drink at the edge of the water. | Adult Nile Crocodiles prey upon antelope like the Wildebeest, Thompsons gazelle and impala, baboons, zebra, buffalo, warthogs, hyenas, leopards, lions, giraffe, and other crocodiles, including their own species. | Rare attacks by large crocodiles have even been recorded on full-grown Hippopotamuses and African Elephants, though they are never known to be successful. | Adult Nile crocodiles use their bodies and tail to herd groups of fish toward a bank, and eat them with quick sideways jerks of their heads. | They also cooperate, blocking migrating fish by forming a semicircle across the river. | The most dominant crocodile eats first. | Their ability to lie concealed with most of their body underwater, combined with their speed over short distances, makes them effective opportunistic hunters of larger prey. | They grab such prey in their powerful jaws, drag it into the water, and hold it underneath until it drowns. | They will also scavenge kills, although they avoid rotting meat. | Groups of Nile crocodiles may travel hundreds of meters (yards) from a waterway to feast on a carcass. | Once their prey is dead, they rip off and swallow chunks of flesh. | When groups of Nile crocodiles are sharing a kill, they use each other for leverage, biting down hard and then twisting their body to tear off large pieces of meat. | This is called the death roll. | They may also get the necessary leverage by lodging their prey under branches or stones, before rolling and ripping. | Nile crocodiles are reputed to have a symbiotic relationship with certain birds like the spur-winged plover. | According to reports, the crocodile opens its mouth wide, and then the bird picks pieces of meat from between the crocodiles teeth. | This has proven hard to verify, and may not be a true symbiotic relationship. | For males, the onset of sexual maturity occurs when they are about 3 metres (10 ft) long while for females, it occurs when they reach 200 to 250cm (6 to 8 ft) in length. | This takes about 10 years for either sex, under normal conditions. | During the mating season, males attract females by bellowing, slapping their snouts in the water, blowing water out of their noses, and making a variety of other noises. | The larger males of a population tend to be more successful. | Once a female has been attracted, the pair warble and rub the underside of their jaws together. | Females lay their eggs about two months after mating. | Nesting is in November or December, which is the dry season in the north of Africa, and the rainy season in the south. | Preferred nesting locations are sandy shores, dry stream beds, or riverbanks. | The female then digs a hole a couple of meters (yards) from the bank and up to 500 mm (20 in) deep, and lays between 25 and 80 eggs. | The number of eggs varies between different populations, but averages around 50. | Multiple females may nest close together. | The eggs resemble hen eggs, but have a much thinner shell. | Once the eggs are laid, the expectant mother covers the eggs with sand, and then guards them for the 3 month incubation period. | The father-to-be will often stay nearby, and both parents will fiercely attack anything that approaches their eggs. | The impending mother will only leave the nest if she needs to cool off (thermoregulation), by taking a quick dip or seeking out a patch of shade. | Despite the attentive care of both parents, the nests are often raided by humans, monitor lizards, and other animals while the mother is temporarily absent. | The hatchlings start to make a high-pitched chirping noise before hatching, which is the signal for the mother to rip open the nest. | Both the mother and father may pick up the eggs in their mouths, and roll them between their tongue and the upper palate of their mouth to help crack the shell, and release their offspring. | Once they are hatched, the female may lead the hatchlings to water, or even carry them there, in her mouth. | Nile crocodiles have Temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), which means the sex of their hatchlings is determined not by genetics, but by the average temperature during the middle third of their incubation period. | If the temperature inside the nest is below 31 °C (89 °F), or above 34 °C (94 °F), the offspring will be female. | Males can only be born if the temperature is within that narrow 5-degree range. | Hatchlings are about 300 mm (12 in) long at birth, and grow that much each year. | The new mother will protect her offspring for up to two years, and if there are multiple nests in the same area, the mothers may form a crèche. | During this time, the mothers may pick up their offspring to protect them, either in their mouth or in her gular or throat pouch, to keep the babies safe. | The mother will sometimes carry her young on her back to avoid them getting eaten by turtles or water snakes. | At the end of the two years, the hatchlings will be about 120 cm (4 ft) long, and will naturally depart the nest area, avoiding the territories of older and larger crocodiles. | Crocodile longevity is not well established, but larger species like the Nile crocodile live longer, and may have an average life span of 70–100 years. | From the 1940s to the 1960s, the Nile crocodile was hunted, primarily for high-quality leather, though also for meat and purported curative properties. | The population was severely depleted, and the species faced extinction. | National laws, and international trade regulations have resulted in a resurgence in many areas, and the species as a whole is no longer threatened with extinction. | Crocodile protection programs are artificial environments where crocodiles exist safely and without the threat of extermination from hunters. | There are an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 individuals in the wild. | The Nile crocodile is also widely distributed, with strong, documented populations in many countries in east Africa, including Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia. | Successful sustainable-yield programs focused on ranching crocodiles for their skins have been successfully implemented in this area, and even countries with quotas are moving toward ranching. | In 1993, 80,000 Nile crocodile skins were produced, the majority from ranches in Zimbabwe and South Africa. | The situation is more grim in central and west Africa, which make up about two-thirds of the Nile crocodiles habitat. | The crocodile population in this area is much more sparse, and has not been adequately surveyed. | While the natural population of Nile crocodiles in these areas may be lower due to a less-than-ideal environment and competition with sympatric slender-snouted and dwarf crocodiles, extirpation may be a serious threat in some of these areas. | Additional factors are a loss of wetland habitats, and hunting in the 1970s. | Additional ecological surveys and establishing management programs are necessary to resolve this. | The Nile crocodile is the top predator in its environment, and is responsible for checking the population of species like the barbel catfish, a predator that can overeat fish populations that other species, like birds, depend on. | The Nile crocodile also consumes dead animals that would otherwise pollute the waters. | The primary threat to Nile crocodiles, in turn, are humans. | While illegal poaching is no longer a problem, they are threatened by pollution, hunting, and accidental entanglement in fishing nets. | Much of the hunting stems from their reputation as a man-eater, which is not entirely unjustified. | Unlike other man-eating crocodiles, like the Salties, the Nile crocodile lives in close proximity to human populations, so contact is more frequent. | While there are no solid numbers, the Nile crocodile probably kills a couple of hundred people a year, which is more than all the other crocodiles combined. | Some estimates put the number of annual victims in the thousands. | The Conservation Status of the Nile crocodile under the 1996 World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List is Lower Risk (Lrlc). | The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) lists the Nile crocodile under Appendix I (threatened with extinction) in most of its range; and under Appendix II (not threatened, but trade must be controlled) in the remainder, which either allows ranching or sets an annual quota of skins taken from the wild. | The people of Ancient Egypt worshiped Sobek, a crocodile-god associated with fertility, protection, and the power of the Pharaoh. | They had an ambivalent relationship with Sobek, as they did (and do) with the Nile crocodile; sometimes they hunted crocodiles and reviled Sobek, and sometimes they saw him as a protector and source of pharonic power. | Sobek was depicted as a crocodile, as a mummified crocodile, or as a man with the head of a crocodile. | The center of his worship was in the Middle Kingdom city of Arsinoe in the Faiyum Oasis (now Al Fayyum), known as Crocodopolis by the Greeks. | Another major temple to Sobek is in Kom-Ombo, and other temples were scattered across the country. | According to Herodotus in the 5th century BC, some Egyptians kept crocodiles as pampered pets. | In Sobeks temple in Arsinoe, a crocodile was kept in the pool of the temple, where it was fed, covered with jewelry, and worshipped. | When the crocodiles died, they were embalmed, mummified, placed in sarcophagi, and then buried in a sacred tomb. | Many mummified crocodiles and even crocodile eggs have been found in Egyptian tombs. | Spells were used to appease crocodiles in Ancient Egypt, and even in modern times Nubian fishermen stuff and mount crocodiles over their doorsteps to ward against evil. | Crocodiles are archosaurs; early forms split off from the rest of the reptiles about 200 Ma (million years ago), during the Triassic. | Their closest living relatives are the only other surviving lineage of archosaurs: the birds. | Like birds, they have gizzards and a four-chambered heart. | Unlike birds, who are descended from dinosaurs, the basic crocodile body shape has changed very little over time. | Crocodylus niloticus covers a wide range, and there are significant differences between the various populations. | However, there are no official subspecies though at least seven have been proposed. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||}

{The Nile Crocodile Crocodylus niloticus is one of the three species of the crocodiles found in Africa, and the second largest species of crocodile. | Nile crocodiles can be found throughout most of Africa south of the Sahara, and on the island of Madagascar. | The Nile crocodile can, and sometimes will, easily snatch and devour a human. | While it is no longer threatened with extinction as a species, the population in many countries is in danger of vanishing. | Like all crocodiles, they are quadrupeds with four short, splayed legs; long, powerful tails; a scaly hide with rows of ossified scutes running down their back and tail; and powerful jaws. | They have nictitating membranes to protect their eyes and, despite the myths, they do have lachrymal glands, and can cleanse their eyes with tears. | Nostrils, eyes, and ears are situated on the tops of their head, so the rest of the body can remain concealed underwater. | Their coloration also helps them hide: Juveniles are grey, dark olive, or brown; with darker cross-bands on their tail and body. | As they mature they become darker and the cross-bands fade, especially those on the body. | The underbelly is yellowish, and makes high-quality leather. | They normally crawl along on their bellies, but they can also high walk with their trunks raised above the ground. | Smaller specimens can gallop, and even larger crocodiles are capable of surprising bursts of speeds, briefly reaching up to 12 to 14 km/h (7 to 8 mi/h). | They can swim much faster by moving their body and tail in a sinouous fashion, and they can sustain this form of movement much longer at about 30 to 35 km/h. | They have a four-chambered heart, like a bird, which is especially efficient at oxygenating their blood. | They normally dive for only a couple of minutes, but will stay underwater for up to 30 minutes if threatened, and if they remain inactive they can hold their breath for up to 2 hours. | They have an ectothermic metabolism, so they can survive a long time between meals — though when they do eat, they can eat up to half their body weight at a time. | They have a rich vocal range, and good hearing. | Their skin has a number of poorly-understood integumentary sense organs (ISOs), that may react to changes in water pressure. | Their jaws are capable of exerting impressive force as they hold on to their prey. | Their mouths are filled with a total of 64 to 68 cone-shaped teeth. | On each side of the mouth, there are 5 teeth in the front of the upper jaw (the premaxilla), 13 or 14 in the rest of the upper jaw (the maxilla), and 14 or 15 on either side of the lower jaw (the mandible). | Hatchlings quickly lose a hardened piece of skin on the top of their mouth called the egg tooth, which they use to break through their eggs shell at birth. | Nile crocodiles in captivity have lived up to 80 years, but scientists estimate that in their natural habitat, they can live 45 years. | The Nile crocodile is the largest African crocodilian and is sometimes regarded as the second largest crocodilian after the Saltwater crocodile, usually measuring between 3. |3 and 5 m (11 and 16 feet), exceptionally to 6 m (20 ft). | Good sized males weigh 500 kg (1100 lb), but can also reach up to 2000 lbs (909 kg). | The largest accurately measured male was shot near Mwanza, Tanzania and measured 645 cm (21-22 ft) and weighed aproximately 1,090 kg (2,400 lb). | Like all crocodiles they are sexually dimorphic, with the males up to 30% larger than the females, though the difference is even less in some species, like the Saltwater crocodile. | Seven meters (23 ft) and larger specimens have been reported, but since gross overestimation of size is common these reports are suspect. | The largest living specimen is purported to be a notorious man-eater from Burundi named Gustave; he is believed to be approximately 20-30 feet long. | Such giants are rare today; before the heavy hunting of the 1940s and 1950s, a larger population base and more extensive wetland habitats meant more giants. | There is some evidence that Nile crocodiles from cooler climates like the southern tip of Africa are smaller, and may reach lengths of only 4 m (13 ft). | Dwarf Nile crocodiles also exist in Mali and in the Sahara desert, which reach only 2 to 3 m (6 to 10 ft) in length. | Their reduced size is probably the result of the less than ideal environmental conditions, not genetics. | The bite force exerted by an adult Nile crocodile was thought to be about 3,000 lbf (13 kN). | However, new work by Brady Barr has revealed that in fact the bite of a Nile crocodile can be 5,000 lbf (22 kN) or more. | However the muscles responsible for opening the mouth are exceptionally weak, allowing a man to easily hold them shut with a small amount of force. | Hatchlings eat insects and small aquatic invertebrates, and quickly graduate to amphibians, reptiles, and birds. | But even as an adult, a significant portion of a Nile crocodiles diet is fish and other small vertebrates. | However adult crocodiles prefer to consume larger prey to conserve energy. | In the absence of large prey, they gradually have to move onto smaller prey. | Nile crocodiles have a very broad diet and can potentially eat nearly any animal that comes to take a drink at the edge of the water. | Adult Nile Crocodiles prey upon antelope like the Wildebeest, Thompsons gazelle and impala, baboons, zebra, buffalo, warthogs, hyenas, leopards, lions, giraffe, and other crocodiles, including their own species. | Rare attacks by large crocodiles have even been recorded on full-grown Hippopotamuses and African Elephants, though they are never known to be successful. | Adult Nile crocodiles use their bodies and tail to herd groups of fish toward a bank, and eat them with quick sideways jerks of their heads. | They also cooperate, blocking migrating fish by forming a semicircle across the river. | The most dominant crocodile eats first. | Their ability to lie concealed with most of their body underwater, combined with their speed over short distances, makes them effective opportunistic hunters of larger prey. | They grab such prey in their powerful jaws, drag it into the water, and hold it underneath until it drowns. | They will also scavenge kills, although they avoid rotting meat. | Groups of Nile crocodiles may travel hundreds of meters (yards) from a waterway to feast on a carcass. | Once their prey is dead, they rip off and swallow chunks of flesh. | When groups of Nile crocodiles are sharing a kill, they use each other for leverage, biting down hard and then twisting their body to tear off large pieces of meat. | This is called the death roll. | They may also get the necessary leverage by lodging their prey under branches or stones, before rolling and ripping. | Nile crocodiles are reputed to have a symbiotic relationship with certain birds like the spur-winged plover. | According to reports, the crocodile opens its mouth wide, and then the bird picks pieces of meat from between the crocodiles teeth. | This has proven hard to verify, and may not be a true symbiotic relationship. | For males, the onset of sexual maturity occurs when they are about 3 metres (10 ft) long while for females, it occurs when they reach 200 to 250cm (6 to 8 ft) in length. | This takes about 10 years for either sex, under normal conditions. | During the mating season, males attract females by bellowing, slapping their snouts in the water, blowing water out of their noses, and making a variety of other noises. | The larger males of a population tend to be more successful. | Once a female has been attracted, the pair warble and rub the underside of their jaws together. | Females lay their eggs about two months after mating. | Nesting is in November or December, which is the dry season in the north of Africa, and the rainy season in the south. | Preferred nesting locations are sandy shores, dry stream beds, or riverbanks. | The female then digs a hole a couple of meters (yards) from the bank and up to 500 mm (20 in) deep, and lays between 25 and 80 eggs. | The number of eggs varies between different populations, but averages around 50. | Multiple females may nest close together. | The eggs resemble hen eggs, but have a much thinner shell. | Once the eggs are laid, the expectant mother covers the eggs with sand, and then guards them for the 3 month incubation period. | The father-to-be will often stay nearby, and both parents will fiercely attack anything that approaches their eggs. | The impending mother will only leave the nest if she needs to cool off (thermoregulation), by taking a quick dip or seeking out a patch of shade. | Despite the attentive care of both parents, the nests are often raided by humans, monitor lizards, and other animals while the mother is temporarily absent. | The hatchlings start to make a high-pitched chirping noise before hatching, which is the signal for the mother to rip open the nest. | Both the mother and father may pick up the eggs in their mouths, and roll them between their tongue and the upper palate of their mouth to help crack the shell, and release their offspring. | Once they are hatched, the female may lead the hatchlings to water, or even carry them there, in her mouth. | Nile crocodiles have Temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), which means the sex of their hatchlings is determined not by genetics, but by the average temperature during the middle third of their incubation period. | If the temperature inside the nest is below 31 °C (89 °F), or above 34 °C (94 °F), the offspring will be female. | Males can only be born if the temperature is within that narrow 5-degree range. | Hatchlings are about 300 mm (12 in) long at birth, and grow that much each year. | The new mother will protect her offspring for up to two years, and if there are multiple nests in the same area, the mothers may form a crèche. | During this time, the mothers may pick up their offspring to protect them, either in their mouth or in her gular or throat pouch, to keep the babies safe. | The mother will sometimes carry her young on her back to avoid them getting eaten by turtles or water snakes. | At the end of the two years, the hatchlings will be about 120 cm (4 ft) long, and will naturally depart the nest area, avoiding the territories of older and larger crocodiles. | Crocodile longevity is not well established, but larger species like the Nile crocodile live longer, and may have an average life span of 70–100 years. | From the 1940s to the 1960s, the Nile crocodile was hunted, primarily for high-quality leather, though also for meat and purported curative properties. | The population was severely depleted, and the species faced extinction. | National laws, and international trade regulations have resulted in a resurgence in many areas, and the species as a whole is no longer threatened with extinction. | Crocodile protection programs are artificial environments where crocodiles exist safely and without the threat of extermination from hunters. | There are an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 individuals in the wild. | The Nile crocodile is also widely distributed, with strong, documented populations in many countries in east Africa, including Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia. | Successful sustainable-yield programs focused on ranching crocodiles for their skins have been successfully implemented in this area, and even countries with quotas are moving toward ranching. | In 1993, 80,000 Nile crocodile skins were produced, the majority from ranches in Zimbabwe and South Africa. | The situation is more grim in central and west Africa, which make up about two-thirds of the Nile crocodiles habitat. | The crocodile population in this area is much more sparse, and has not been adequately surveyed. | While the natural population of Nile crocodiles in these areas may be lower due to a less-than-ideal environment and competition with sympatric slender-snouted and dwarf crocodiles, extirpation may be a serious threat in some of these areas. | Additional factors are a loss of wetland habitats, and hunting in the 1970s. | Additional ecological surveys and establishing management programs are necessary to resolve this. | The Nile crocodile is the top predator in its environment, and is responsible for checking the population of species like the barbel catfish, a predator that can overeat fish populations that other species, like birds, depend on. | The Nile crocodile also consumes dead animals that would otherwise pollute the waters. | The primary threat to Nile crocodiles, in turn, are humans. | While illegal poaching is no longer a problem, they are threatened by pollution, hunting, and accidental entanglement in fishing nets. | Much of the hunting stems from their reputation as a man-eater, which is not entirely unjustified. | Unlike other man-eating crocodiles, like the Salties, the Nile crocodile lives in close proximity to human populations, so contact is more frequent. | While there are no solid numbers, the Nile crocodile probably kills a couple of hundred people a year, which is more than all the other crocodiles combined. | Some estimates put the number of annual victims in the thousands. | The Conservation Status of the Nile crocodile under the 1996 World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List is Lower Risk (Lrlc). | The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) lists the Nile crocodile under Appendix I (threatened with extinction) in most of its range; and under Appendix II (not threatened, but trade must be controlled) in the remainder, which either allows ranching or sets an annual quota of skins taken from the wild. | The people of Ancient Egypt worshiped Sobek, a crocodile-god associated with fertility, protection, and the power of the Pharaoh. | They had an ambivalent relationship with Sobek, as they did (and do) with the Nile crocodile; sometimes they hunted crocodiles and reviled Sobek, and sometimes they saw him as a protector and source of pharonic power. | Sobek was depicted as a crocodile, as a mummified crocodile, or as a man with the head of a crocodile. | The center of his worship was in the Middle Kingdom city of Arsinoe in the Faiyum Oasis (now Al Fayyum), known as Crocodopolis by the Greeks. | Another major temple to Sobek is in Kom-Ombo, and other temples were scattered across the country. | According to Herodotus in the 5th century BC, some Egyptians kept crocodiles as pampered pets. | In Sobeks temple in Arsinoe, a crocodile was kept in the pool of the temple, where it was fed, covered with jewelry, and worshipped. | When the crocodiles died, they were embalmed, mummified, placed in sarcophagi, and then buried in a sacred tomb. | Many mummified crocodiles and even crocodile eggs have been found in Egyptian tombs. | Spells were used to appease crocodiles in Ancient Egypt, and even in modern times Nubian fishermen stuff and mount crocodiles over their doorsteps to ward against evil. | Crocodiles are archosaurs; early forms split off from the rest of the reptiles about 200 Ma (million years ago), during the Triassic. | Their closest living relatives are the only other surviving lineage of archosaurs: the birds. | Like birds, they have gizzards and a four-chambered heart. | Unlike birds, who are descended from dinosaurs, the basic crocodile body shape has changed very little over time. | Crocodylus niloticus covers a wide range, and there are significant differences between the various populations. | However, there are no official subspecies though at least seven have been proposed. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||}

The Saltwater or Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest of all living crocodilians and reptiles. | It is found in suitable habitat throughout Southeast Asia and northern Australia. | Saltwater crocodiles are known in the Northern Territory of Australia as salties. | The Alligator Rivers are misnamed after the resemblance of the saltie to alligators as compared to freshwater crocodiles, which also inhabit the Northern Territory. | An adult male saltwater crocodile can grow 18 feet (545 centimeters) long, and weighs roughly 770 kilograms (1,700 pounds). | Females are much smaller than males, with typical female body lengths in the range of 7 to 10 ft (210 to 300cm). | The largest females measure about 420 cm (14 feet). | The saltwater crocodile has fewer armor plates on its neck than other crocodilians, and its broad body contrasts with that of most other lean crocodiles, leading to early unverified assumptions that the reptile was an alligator. | The largest size saltwater crocodiles can reach is the subject of considerable controversy. | The longest crocodile ever measured snout-to-tail was the skin of a deceased crocodile, which was 20. |3 ft (620 cm) long. | Since skins tend to shrink slightly after removal from the carcass, this crocodiles living length was estimated at 27 feet and it probably weighed well over 4,000 pounds. | Incomplete remains (the skull of a crocodile shot in Orrissa) have been claimed to come from a 25 ft (760 cm) crocodile, but scholarly examination suggested a length no greater than 23 ft (7 m). | There have been numerous claims of crocodiles in the 30-foot range: the individual shot in the Bay of Bengal in 1840, reported at 10 m (33 ft); another killed in 1823 at Jala Jala on Luzon reported at 820 cm (27 ft); a reported 25 ft crocodile killed in the Hooghly River in the Alipore District of Calcutta. | However, examinations of these animals skulls actually indicated animals ranging from 6 to 660 cm (20 to 22 ft). | The life expectancy of a Saltwater crocodile is approximately 70 years. | With recent restoration in saltwater crocodile habitat and reduced poaching, it is possible that 23 ft (7 m) or larger crocodiles are alive today. | Guinness has accepted a claim of a 23 ft (7 m) male Saltwater Crocodile living within Bhitarkanika Park in the state of Orissa, India, although no verified measurements have been made. | A crocodile shot in Queensland in 1957 was reported to be 28 ft (860 cm) long, but no verified measurements were made and no remains of this crocodile exist. | A replica of this crocodile has been made as a tourist attraction. | Many other unconfirmed reports of 26+ ft (8+ m) crocodiles have been made but these are highly suspect. | Saltwater crocodiles are severely depleted in numbers through much of their range, with sightings in areas such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam becoming extremely rare and the species may in fact even be extinct in one or more of these countries. | However, it is also the least likely of crocodilians to become globally extinct due to its wide distribution and almost pre-colonial population sizes in Northern Australia and New Guinea. | In India this crocodile is extremely rare in most areas but is very common in the north eastern part of the country (mainly Orissa and the Sunderbans). | The population is sporadic in Indonesia and Malaysia with some areas harboring large populations (Borneo, for example) and others with very small, at risk populations (e. |g. |, the Philippines). | The saltwater crocodile is also present in very limited portions of the South Pacific, with an average population in the Solomon Islands, a very small and soon to be extinct population in Vanuatu (where the population officially stands at only three) and a decent but at-risk population (which may be rebounding) in Palau. | Saltwater crocodiles once ranged as far west as the east coast of Africa at the Seychelles Islands. | These crocodiles were once believed to be a population of Nile crocodiles, but they were later proven to be Crocodylus porosus. | Saltwater crocodiles generally spend the tropical wet season in freshwater swamps and rivers, moving downstream to estuaries in the dry season, and sometimes traveling far out to sea. | Crocodiles compete fiercely with each other for territory, with dominant males in particular occupying the most eligible stretches of freshwater creeks and streams. | Junior crocodiles are thus forced into the more marginal river systems and sometimes into the ocean. | This explains the large distribution of the animal (ranging from the east coast of India to northern Australia) as well as its being found in odd places on occasion (such as the Sea of Japan). | Saltwater crocodiles can swim 15 to 18 miles per hour in short bursts, but when cruising go 2 to 3 mph. | The saltwater crocodile is an opportunistic apex predator capable of taking animals up to the size of an adult male water buffalo, either in the water or on dry land. | They have also been known to attack humans. | Juveniles are restricted to smaller items such as insects, amphibians, crustaceans, small reptiles and fish. | The larger the animal grows, the greater the variety of items it includes in the diet, although relatively small prey make up an important part of the diet even in adults. | Saltwater crocodiles can eat monkeys, kangaroo, wild boar, dingos, goannas, birds, domestic livestock, pets, water buffalo, gaur, leopards, sharks, and humans, among other large animals as well. | Domestic Cattle, horse, water buffalo and gaur, all of which may weigh over a ton, are considered the largest prey taken by male crocodiles. | Generally very lethargic – a trait which helps it survive months at a time without food – it typically loiters in the water or basks in the sun through much of the day, preferring to hunt at night. | Capable of explosive bursts of speed when launching an attack from the water, many species of crocodile are also capable of fast land-movement. | Many crocodiles are capable of explosive charges that can carry them nearly as fast as a running human. | The 23 species of crocodilian can travel over land using the belly crawl, the walk, the high-walk, and the gallop. | However, stories of crocodiles being faster than a race horse for short distances across the ground are little more than urban legend. | As an ambush predator, it usually waits for its prey to get close to the waters edge before striking without warning and using its great strength to drag the animal back into the water. | Most prey animals are killed by the great jaw pressure of the crocodile, although some animals may be incidentally drowned. | It is an immensely powerful animal, having the strength to drag a fully grown water buffalo into a river, or crush a full-grown bovids skull between its jaws. | In its most deadly attack, called the death roll, it grabs onto the animal and rolls powerfully. | This is designed to initially throw any struggling large animal off balance making it easier to drag it into the water. | The death roll is also used for tearing apart large animals once they are dead. | Although Saltwater crocodiles are very dangerous animals, attacks on humans are infrequent. | Most attacks by adult salties are fatal, given the animals size and strength. | In Australia, attacks are rare and usually make headlines when they do occur. | There are, on average, no more than one or two fatal attacks reported per year in the country. | The low level of attacks is most likely due to the extensive effort by local wildlife officials to post crocodile warning signs at nearly every billabong, river, lake and even at some beaches and also due to the relatively well-informed nature of the local citizens. | In the Aboriginal community of Arnhem Land, which occupies roughly half of the top end of the Northern Territory, attacks may go unreported and may be more common. | In the remaining portion of the crocodiles range, where very few attacks are reported and theres none of the precautions taken in Australia, attacks have been estimated to number up to the thousands annually. | Dr. | Adam Britton, a researcher with Big Gecko, has been studying crocodilian intelligence. | In so doing, he has compiled a collection of Australian saltwater crocodile calls, and associated them with behaviors. | His position is that while crocodilian brains are much smaller than those of mammals (as low as point 05% of body weight in the saltwater crocodile), they are capable of learning hard tasks with very little conditioning. | He also infers that the crocodile calls hint at a deeper language ability than currently accepted. | He suggests that saltwater crocodiles are clever animals that can possibly learn faster than lab rats. | They have also learned to track the migratory route of their prey as the climate changes. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

The Saltwater or Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest of all living crocodilians and reptiles. | It is found in suitable habitat throughout Southeast Asia and northern Australia. | Saltwater crocodiles are known in the Northern Territory of Australia as salties. | The Alligator Rivers are misnamed after the resemblance of the saltie to alligators as compared to freshwater crocodiles, which also inhabit the Northern Territory. | An adult male saltwater crocodile can grow 18 feet (545 centimeters) long, and weighs roughly 770 kilograms (1,700 pounds). | Females are much smaller than males, with typical female body lengths in the range of 7 to 10 ft (210 to 300cm). | The largest females measure about 420 cm (14 feet). | The saltwater crocodile has fewer armor plates on its neck than other crocodilians, and its broad body contrasts with that of most other lean crocodiles, leading to early unverified assumptions that the reptile was an alligator. | The largest size saltwater crocodiles can reach is the subject of considerable controversy. | The longest crocodile ever measured snout-to-tail was the skin of a deceased crocodile, which was 20. |3 ft (620 cm) long. | Since skins tend to shrink slightly after removal from the carcass, this crocodiles living length was estimated at 27 feet and it probably weighed well over 4,000 pounds. | Incomplete remains (the skull of a crocodile shot in Orrissa) have been claimed to come from a 25 ft (760 cm) crocodile, but scholarly examination suggested a length no greater than 23 ft (7 m). | There have been numerous claims of crocodiles in the 30-foot range: the individual shot in the Bay of Bengal in 1840, reported at 10 m (33 ft); another killed in 1823 at Jala Jala on Luzon reported at 820 cm (27 ft); a reported 25 ft crocodile killed in the Hooghly River in the Alipore District of Calcutta. | However, examinations of these animals skulls actually indicated animals ranging from 6 to 660 cm (20 to 22 ft). | The life expectancy of a Saltwater crocodile is approximately 70 years. | With recent restoration in saltwater crocodile habitat and reduced poaching, it is possible that 23 ft (7 m) or larger crocodiles are alive today. | Guinness has accepted a claim of a 23 ft (7 m) male Saltwater Crocodile living within Bhitarkanika Park in the state of Orissa, India, although no verified measurements have been made. | A crocodile shot in Queensland in 1957 was reported to be 28 ft (860 cm) long, but no verified measurements were made and no remains of this crocodile exist. | A replica of this crocodile has been made as a tourist attraction. | Many other unconfirmed reports of 26+ ft (8+ m) crocodiles have been made but these are highly suspect. | Saltwater crocodiles are severely depleted in numbers through much of their range, with sightings in areas such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam becoming extremely rare and the species may in fact even be extinct in one or more of these countries. | However, it is also the least likely of crocodilians to become globally extinct due to its wide distribution and almost pre-colonial population sizes in Northern Australia and New Guinea. | In India this crocodile is extremely rare in most areas but is very common in the north eastern part of the country (mainly Orissa and the Sunderbans). | The population is sporadic in Indonesia and Malaysia with some areas harboring large populations (Borneo, for example) and others with very small, at risk populations (e. |g. |, the Philippines). | The saltwater crocodile is also present in very limited portions of the South Pacific, with an average population in the Solomon Islands, a very small and soon to be extinct population in Vanuatu (where the population officially stands at only three) and a decent but at-risk population (which may be rebounding) in Palau. | Saltwater crocodiles once ranged as far west as the east coast of Africa at the Seychelles Islands. | These crocodiles were once believed to be a population of Nile crocodiles, but they were later proven to be Crocodylus porosus. | Saltwater crocodiles generally spend the tropical wet season in freshwater swamps and rivers, moving downstream to estuaries in the dry season, and sometimes traveling far out to sea. | Crocodiles compete fiercely with each other for territory, with dominant males in particular occupying the most eligible stretches of freshwater creeks and streams. | Junior crocodiles are thus forced into the more marginal river systems and sometimes into the ocean. | This explains the large distribution of the animal (ranging from the east coast of India to northern Australia) as well as its being found in odd places on occasion (such as the Sea of Japan). | Saltwater crocodiles can swim 15 to 18 miles per hour in short bursts, but when cruising go 2 to 3 mph. | The saltwater crocodile is an opportunistic apex predator capable of taking animals up to the size of an adult male water buffalo, either in the water or on dry land. | They have also been known to attack humans. | Juveniles are restricted to smaller items such as insects, amphibians, crustaceans, small reptiles and fish. | The larger the animal grows, the greater the variety of items it includes in the diet, although relatively small prey make up an important part of the diet even in adults. | Saltwater crocodiles can eat monkeys, kangaroo, wild boar, dingos, goannas, birds, domestic livestock, pets, water buffalo, gaur, leopards, sharks, and humans, among other large animals as well. | Domestic Cattle, horse, water buffalo and gaur, all of which may weigh over a ton, are considered the largest prey taken by male crocodiles. | Generally very lethargic – a trait which helps it survive months at a time without food – it typically loiters in the water or basks in the sun through much of the day, preferring to hunt at night. | Capable of explosive bursts of speed when launching an attack from the water, many species of crocodile are also capable of fast land-movement. | Many crocodiles are capable of explosive charges that can carry them nearly as fast as a running human. | The 23 species of crocodilian can travel over land using the belly crawl, the walk, the high-walk, and the gallop. | However, stories of crocodiles being faster than a race horse for short distances across the ground are little more than urban legend. | As an ambush predator, it usually waits for its prey to get close to the waters edge before striking without warning and using its great strength to drag the animal back into the water. | Most prey animals are killed by the great jaw pressure of the crocodile, although some animals may be incidentally drowned. | It is an immensely powerful animal, having the strength to drag a fully grown water buffalo into a river, or crush a full-grown bovids skull between its jaws. | In its most deadly attack, called the death roll, it grabs onto the animal and rolls powerfully. | This is designed to initially throw any struggling large animal off balance making it easier to drag it into the water. | The death roll is also used for tearing apart large animals once they are dead. | Although Saltwater crocodiles are very dangerous animals, attacks on humans are infrequent. | Most attacks by adult salties are fatal, given the animals size and strength. | In Australia, attacks are rare and usually make headlines when they do occur. | There are, on average, no more than one or two fatal attacks reported per year in the country. | The low level of attacks is most likely due to the extensive effort by local wildlife officials to post crocodile warning signs at nearly every billabong, river, lake and even at some beaches and also due to the relatively well-informed nature of the local citizens. | In the Aboriginal community of Arnhem Land, which occupies roughly half of the top end of the Northern Territory, attacks may go unreported and may be more common. | In the remaining portion of the crocodiles range, where very few attacks are reported and theres none of the precautions taken in Australia, attacks have been estimated to number up to the thousands annually. | Dr. | Adam Britton, a researcher with Big Gecko, has been studying crocodilian intelligence. | In so doing, he has compiled a collection of Australian saltwater crocodile calls, and associated them with behaviors. | His position is that while crocodilian brains are much smaller than those of mammals (as low as point 05% of body weight in the saltwater crocodile), they are capable of learning hard tasks with very little conditioning. | He also infers that the crocodile calls hint at a deeper language ability than currently accepted. | He suggests that saltwater crocodiles are clever animals that can possibly learn faster than lab rats. | They have also learned to track the migratory route of their prey as the climate changes. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

The Saltwater or Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest of all living crocodilians and reptiles. | It is found in suitable habitat throughout Southeast Asia and northern Australia. | Saltwater crocodiles are known in the Northern Territory of Australia as salties. | The Alligator Rivers are misnamed after the resemblance of the saltie to alligators as compared to freshwater crocodiles, which also inhabit the Northern Territory. | An adult male saltwater crocodile can grow 18 feet (545 centimeters) long, and weighs roughly 770 kilograms (1,700 pounds). | Females are much smaller than males, with typical female body lengths in the range of 7 to 10 ft (210 to 300cm). | The largest females measure about 420 cm (14 feet). | The saltwater crocodile has fewer armor plates on its neck than other crocodilians, and its broad body contrasts with that of most other lean crocodiles, leading to early unverified assumptions that the reptile was an alligator. | The largest size saltwater crocodiles can reach is the subject of considerable controversy. | The longest crocodile ever measured snout-to-tail was the skin of a deceased crocodile, which was 20. |3 ft (620 cm) long. | Since skins tend to shrink slightly after removal from the carcass, this crocodiles living length was estimated at 27 feet and it probably weighed well over 4,000 pounds. | Incomplete remains (the skull of a crocodile shot in Orrissa) have been claimed to come from a 25 ft (760 cm) crocodile, but scholarly examination suggested a length no greater than 23 ft (7 m). | There have been numerous claims of crocodiles in the 30-foot range: the individual shot in the Bay of Bengal in 1840, reported at 10 m (33 ft); another killed in 1823 at Jala Jala on Luzon reported at 820 cm (27 ft); a reported 25 ft crocodile killed in the Hooghly River in the Alipore District of Calcutta. | However, examinations of these animals skulls actually indicated animals ranging from 6 to 660 cm (20 to 22 ft). | The life expectancy of a Saltwater crocodile is approximately 70 years. | With recent restoration in saltwater crocodile habitat and reduced poaching, it is possible that 23 ft (7 m) or larger crocodiles are alive today. | Guinness has accepted a claim of a 23 ft (7 m) male Saltwater Crocodile living within Bhitarkanika Park in the state of Orissa, India, although no verified measurements have been made. | A crocodile shot in Queensland in 1957 was reported to be 28 ft (860 cm) long, but no verified measurements were made and no remains of this crocodile exist. | A replica of this crocodile has been made as a tourist attraction. | Many other unconfirmed reports of 26+ ft (8+ m) crocodiles have been made but these are highly suspect. | Saltwater crocodiles are severely depleted in numbers through much of their range, with sightings in areas such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam becoming extremely rare and the species may in fact even be extinct in one or more of these countries. | However, it is also the least likely of crocodilians to become globally extinct due to its wide distribution and almost pre-colonial population sizes in Northern Australia and New Guinea. | In India this crocodile is extremely rare in most areas but is very common in the north eastern part of the country (mainly Orissa and the Sunderbans). | The population is sporadic in Indonesia and Malaysia with some areas harboring large populations (Borneo, for example) and others with very small, at risk populations (e. |g. |, the Philippines). | The saltwater crocodile is also present in very limited portions of the South Pacific, with an average population in the Solomon Islands, a very small and soon to be extinct population in Vanuatu (where the population officially stands at only three) and a decent but at-risk population (which may be rebounding) in Palau. | Saltwater crocodiles once ranged as far west as the east coast of Africa at the Seychelles Islands. | These crocodiles were once believed to be a population of Nile crocodiles, but they were later proven to be Crocodylus porosus. | Saltwater crocodiles generally spend the tropical wet season in freshwater swamps and rivers, moving downstream to estuaries in the dry season, and sometimes traveling far out to sea. | Crocodiles compete fiercely with each other for territory, with dominant males in particular occupying the most eligible stretches of freshwater creeks and streams. | Junior crocodiles are thus forced into the more marginal river systems and sometimes into the ocean. | This explains the large distribution of the animal (ranging from the east coast of India to northern Australia) as well as its being found in odd places on occasion (such as the Sea of Japan). | Saltwater crocodiles can swim 15 to 18 miles per hour in short bursts, but when cruising go 2 to 3 mph. | The saltwater crocodile is an opportunistic apex predator capable of taking animals up to the size of an adult male water buffalo, either in the water or on dry land. | They have also been known to attack humans. | Juveniles are restricted to smaller items such as insects, amphibians, crustaceans, small reptiles and fish. | The larger the animal grows, the greater the variety of items it includes in the diet, although relatively small prey make up an important part of the diet even in adults. | Saltwater crocodiles can eat monkeys, kangaroo, wild boar, dingos, goannas, birds, domestic livestock, pets, water buffalo, gaur, leopards, sharks, and humans, among other large animals as well. | Domestic Cattle, horse, water buffalo and gaur, all of which may weigh over a ton, are considered the largest prey taken by male crocodiles. | Generally very lethargic – a trait which helps it survive months at a time without food – it typically loiters in the water or basks in the sun through much of the day, preferring to hunt at night. | Capable of explosive bursts of speed when launching an attack from the water, many species of crocodile are also capable of fast land-movement. | Many crocodiles are capable of explosive charges that can carry them nearly as fast as a running human. | The 23 species of crocodilian can travel over land using the belly crawl, the walk, the high-walk, and the gallop. | However, stories of crocodiles being faster than a race horse for short distances across the ground are little more than urban legend. | As an ambush predator, it usually waits for its prey to get close to the waters edge before striking without warning and using its great strength to drag the animal back into the water. | Most prey animals are killed by the great jaw pressure of the crocodile, although some animals may be incidentally drowned. | It is an immensely powerful animal, having the strength to drag a fully grown water buffalo into a river, or crush a full-grown bovids skull between its jaws. | In its most deadly attack, called the death roll, it grabs onto the animal and rolls powerfully. | This is designed to initially throw any struggling large animal off balance making it easier to drag it into the water. | The death roll is also used for tearing apart large animals once they are dead. | Although Saltwater crocodiles are very dangerous animals, attacks on humans are infrequent. | Most attacks by adult salties are fatal, given the animals size and strength. | In Australia, attacks are rare and usually make headlines when they do occur. | There are, on average, no more than one or two fatal attacks reported per year in the country. | The low level of attacks is most likely due to the extensive effort by local wildlife officials to post crocodile warning signs at nearly every billabong, river, lake and even at some beaches and also due to the relatively well-informed nature of the local citizens. | In the Aboriginal community of Arnhem Land, which occupies roughly half of the top end of the Northern Territory, attacks may go unreported and may be more common. | In the remaining portion of the crocodiles range, where very few attacks are reported and theres none of the precautions taken in Australia, attacks have been estimated to number up to the thousands annually. | Dr. | Adam Britton, a researcher with Big Gecko, has been studying crocodilian intelligence. | In so doing, he has compiled a collection of Australian saltwater crocodile calls, and associated them with behaviors. | His position is that while crocodilian brains are much smaller than those of mammals (as low as point 05% of body weight in the saltwater crocodile), they are capable of learning hard tasks with very little conditioning. | He also infers that the crocodile calls hint at a deeper language ability than currently accepted. | He suggests that saltwater crocodiles are clever animals that can possibly learn faster than lab rats. | They have also learned to track the migratory route of their prey as the climate changes. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||