Saltwater Crocodile

## Saltwater Crcodile

The **saltwater crocodile** (*Crocodylus porosus*), also known as the **estuarine crocodile**, **Indo-Pacific crocodile**, **marine crocodile**, **sea crocodile** or informally as **saltie**, is the largest of all living reptiles, as well as the largest riparian predator in the world. Males of this species can reach sizes up to 6.30 m (20.7 ft) and possibly up to 7.0 m (23.0 ft) in length. However, an adult male saltwater crocodile rarely reaches or exceeds a size of 6 m (19.7 ft) weighing 1,000 to 1,200 kg (2,200–2,600 lb). Females are much smaller and often do not surpass 3 m (9.8 ft).

As its name implies, this species of crocodile can live in marine environments, but usually resides in saline and brackish mangrove swamps, estuaries, deltas, lagoons, and lower stretches of rivers. They have the broadest distribution of any modern crocodile, ranging from the eastern coast of India throughout most of Southeast Asia and northern Australia.

The saltwater crocodile is a large and opportunistic hypercarnivorous apex predator. Most prey are ambushed and then drowned or swallowed whole. It is capable of prevailing over almost any animal that enters its territory, including other apex predators such as sharks, varieties of freshwater and marine fish including pelagic species, invertebrates such as crustaceans, various reptiles, birds and mammals, including humans. Due to their size, aggression and distribution, saltwater crocodiles are regarded as the most dangerous extant crocodilian to humans, alongside the Nile crocodile.

## Description

Incomplete fossil records make it difficult to accurately trace the emergence of the species. The genome was fully sequenced in 2007. The earliest fossil evidence of the species dates to around 4.0–4.5 million years ago and no subspecies are known. Scientists estimate that *C. porosus* is an ancient species that could have diverged from 12 to 6 million years ago. Genetic research has unsurprisingly indicated that the saltwater crocodile is related relatively closely to other living species of Asian crocodile, although some ambiguity exists over what assemblage it could be considered part of based on variable genetic results. Other relatively broad-snouted species such as mugger (*C. palustris*) and Siamese crocodiles (*C. siamensis*) seem to be the most likely candidates to bear the closest relation among living species.

The saltwater crocodile has a wide snout compared to most crocodiles. However, it has a longer muzzle than the mugger crocodile; its length is twice its width at the base. The saltwater crocodile has fewer armour plates on its neck than other crocodilians. On this species, a pair of ridges runs from the eyes along the centre of the snout. The scales are oval in shape and the scutes are either small compared to other species or commonly are entirely absent. In addition, an obvious gap is also present between the cervical and dorsal shields, and small, triangular scutes are present between the posterior edges of the large, transversely arranged scutes in the dorsal shield. The relative lack of scutes is considered an asset useful to distinguish saltwater crocodiles in captivity or in illicit leather trading, as well as in the few areas in the field where sub-adult or younger saltwater crocodiles may need to be distinguished from other crocodiles.

The adult saltwater crocodile's broad body contrasts with that of most other lean crocodiles, leading to early unverified assumptions the reptile was an alligator. The head is very large. The largest skull sized that could be scientifically verified was for a specimen in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle sourced to Cambodia, the skull length for this specimen was 76 cm (30 in) (female skull lengths of over 45 cm (18 in) are exceptional), with a mandibular length of 98.3 cm (38.7 in) and a maximum width across the skull (near the base) of 48 cm (19 in). The length of the specimen this came from is not known but based on skull-to-total-length ratios for very large saltwater crocodiles its length was presumably somewhere in the 7 m (23 ft 0 in) range. Although it is the largest overall living crocodilian and reptile, other crocodilians may have a proportionately longer skull, namely the gharial (*Gavialis gangeticus*) and the false gharial (*Tomistoma schlegelii*), skull lengths in the latter have been verified up to 84 cm (33 in) (the largest crocodilian skull verified for a living species), although both of these thin-snouted species have less massive skulls and considerably less massive bodies than the saltwater crocodile. The teeth are also long, with the largest teeth (the fourth tooth from the front on the lower jaw) having been measured at up to 9 cm (3.5 in) in length. If detached from the body, the head of a very large male crocodile can reportedly weigh over 200 kg (440 lb) alone, including the large muscles and tendons at the base of the skull that lend the crocodile its massive biting strength.

Young saltwater crocodiles are pale yellow in colour with black stripes and spots on their bodies and tails. This colouration lasts for several years until the crocodiles mature into adults. The colour as an adult is much darker greenish-drab, with a few lighter tan or grey areas sometimes apparent. Several colour variations are known and some adults may retain fairly pale skin, whereas others may be so dark as to appear blackish. The ventral surface is white or yellow in colour on saltwater crocodiles of all ages. Stripes are present on the lower sides of their bodies, but do not extend onto their bellies. Their tails are grey with dark bands.

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