Facts About Crocodile

Facts About Crocodile, Crocodiles are big reptiles that live in warm areas like the Americas, Australia, Africa, and Asia. They don’t live naturally in Europe.

Scientific Classification Of Crocodile

Crocodiles belong to a group called Crocodilia, which also includes alligators, caimans, and gharials.

Habitat : Crocodiles live in wet areas like rivers, lakes, estuaries, lagoons, and mangrove swamps.

Location : They are found in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Australia.

Lifespan : Crocodiles can live between 35 to 75 years.

Size : They can grow from 4.9 to 23 feet (1.5 to 7 meters) long.

Weight : Crocodiles can weigh from 40 to 2,600 pounds (18 to 1,200 kilograms).

Color : Adult crocodiles are usually dark green, while young ones are yellow with black stripes.

Diet : They eat fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and mammals.

Predators : Other crocodiles, big cats like jaguars and leopards, anacondas, pythons, and when they’re small, large birds like herons or shoebills.

Top Speed : Crocodiles can swim up to 35 kilometers per hour (22 miles per hour).

Number of Species : There are 14 species of crocodiles.

Conservation Status : Four species are endangered : Orinoco, Philippine, Cuban, and Siamese. Two species are vulnerable: American and Dwarf.

Crocodiles are half-water creatures that prefer living in places like wetlands, rivers, lakes, estuaries, lagoons, and mangrove swamps, rather than deep in the ocean.

There are 14 types of crocodiles. They can live from 35 to 75 years and come in different sizes. The smallest one, the Dwarf Crocodile, is around 4.9 feet long and weighs about 40 to 71 pounds.

The biggest crocodile is the Saltwater Crocodile, which can reach up to 23.0 feet long and weigh between 2,200 to 2,600 pounds.

Some crocodile types are active during the day, while others come out at night. Crocodiles mostly hunt at night and are meat-eating animals. They are good hunters because they have great hearing and eyesight.

Crocodiles are fierce predators. They hide and wait for their prey to come close, then quickly attack. They mostly eat other animals, reptiles, birds, and fish.

20 Facts About Crocodile

• Despite being carnivores, recent research revealed that crocodiles also enjoy eating fruit. A study in 2013 found that they sometimes eat fruit along with their usual diet of meat, which includes mammals, birds, and fish.

• Crocodiles can go through a staggering 4,000 teeth in their lifetime. With between 60-110 teeth at any given time, they have replacements ready when one falls out. They can replace each of their 80 teeth up to 50 times during their life.

• A crocodile’s bite can exert 5,000 pounds of pressure per square inch, making it the strongest bite of any animal. In comparison, a human’s jaw produces only 100 pounds of pressure per square inch, making a crocodile’s bite 10 times more powerful than that of a great white shark.

• Despite having strong biting power, crocodiles have relatively weak muscles for opening their jaws, making it possible to hold their mouths shut with just a rubber band or bare hands. However, this is not recommended. It has, however, allowed scientists to study them up close.

• You can easily tell the difference between a crocodile and an alligator by looking at their mouths. When a crocodile closes its mouth, you can see all of its teeth because its upper and lower jaws are the same width. In contrast, alligators have small depressions in their upper jaws, so you can’t see their lower teeth when their mouths are closed.

• Another way to tell an alligator apart from a crocodile is by their snout shape. Alligators have wider, U-shaped snouts, while crocodiles have more pointed and V-shaped snouts. Crocodiles are generally a bit more aggressive and often larger and stronger as well.

• The longest crocodile ever captured alive was measured at 6.17 meters (20.2 feet) long and weighed 1,075 kilograms (2,370 pounds). This record-breaking crocodile, named ‘Lolong,’ was a saltwater crocodile found in Agusan del Sur Province, Philippines. It was the largest crocodile ever held in captivity.

• Crocodiles don’t sweat like humans do. Instead, to stay cool, they open their mouths wide, a behavior known as “mouth gaping,” which helps them release heat. When you see a crocodile with its mouth open, it’s not necessarily a sign of aggression. They often sleep with their mouths wide open to regulate their body temperature.

• Crocodiles are incredibly fast swimmers, reaching speeds of up to 35 kilometers per hour (22 mph) in the water. They use their strong tails to propel themselves and their feet to steer.

• Despite a common belief, crocodiles aren’t swift runners on land. They can “belly run” at speeds of up to 17 kilometers per hour (11 mph) for short distances. However, they tire quickly on land and prefer staying in water, only coming ashore to sunbathe or lay eggs.

• Crocodiles have an impressive ability to hold their breath underwater for over an hour. Researchers from Cambridge University have found that this ability is linked to a tiny part of the crocodile’s hemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen in the blood from the lungs to the body tissues.

• Crocodiles swallow small stones, known as “gastroliths,” to aid digestion. These stones help break down their food in the stomach, especially beneficial when they eat prey whole or when the prey has tough shells or bones.

• The phrase “crocodile tears,” meaning insincere or false displays of emotion, comes from the belief that crocodiles shed tears while eating their prey. While their eyes do water during feeding, it’s not due to remorse but rather a biological response to hisses and huffs during the meal.

• Crocodiles possess keen senses, which give them a significant advantage as hunters. They are mainly nocturnal and have exceptional night vision. Additionally, their sense of smell and hearing are highly developed, contributing to their success as predators.

• Occasionally, crocodiles may cannibalize smaller individuals, with recorded cases of larger crocodiles consuming smaller or younger ones. There have also been instances where crocodiles instinctively bite off the limbs of other crocodiles.

• Crocodiles are ambush predators and opportunistic hunters, capable of preying on large mammals like small elephants, hippos, sharks, or big cats. While some species, like the freshwater crocodile, mainly eat fish, larger species such as the saltwater crocodile or Nile crocodile feed on buffalo, zebra, deer, and wild boar.

• Crocodiles have the most acidic stomach among vertebrates, enabling them to dissolve and digest bones, hooves, horns, or shells from their prey.

• Crocodiles use a technique called the ‘death roll’ to overpower their prey. They clamp onto their prey with their jaws and spin around powerfully, disorienting the prey and dragging them underwater. This spinning motion also helps them separate limbs from the bodies of larger animals for easier ingestion.

• Crocodiles communicate through vocalizations. Young crocodiles may squeak or grunt, while adults can growl, hiss, or roar at each other. Many species also respond to other noises such as engine sounds, gunfire, or even human imitations of crocodile calls.

• Crocodiles have the unique ability to sleep with one eye open, a trait shared with some other reptiles, birds, and dolphins. While they generally sleep with both eyes closed, they can keep one eye open to remain alert to their surroundings.