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Compared to the Nile Crocodile, the West African Crocodile is smaller: Adults are typically long, and maximum is perhaps . The species was named by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1807, who discovered differences between the skulls of a mummified crocodile and those of Nile crocodile ("C. niloticus"). This new species was, however, for a long time afterwards regarded as a synonym of the Nile crocodile. In 2003, a study indicated that "C. suchus" was a valid species, and this was confirmed by several other studies in 2011–2015. Despite the long history of confusion, genetic testing has revealed that the two are not particularly close. The closest relatives of the Nile crocodile are the "Crocodylus" species from the Americas, while the West African crocodile is basal to the clade of Nile and American crocodiles.