The heaviest crocodile. How much does a crocodile weigh? The smallest and largest crocodile

By far the most big crocodile should saltwater crocodile(from the Greek Crocodylus Porosus), males of which can reach seven meters in length and weigh one ton. Interestingly, these reptiles can often be found on the coasts of countries such as Indonesia and Australia, as well as on the islands of New Guinea.

Today is the most close-up view crocodile found on our planet. Unlike males, females are much smaller - they weigh up to half a ton, and their body length rarely exceeds three meters. As for the name “combed,” the reptile gets it in honor of the two ridges located in the eye area. The color of animals changes depending on their age. Thus, young animals have a light yellow body, on the surface of which dark hairs and spots can be seen. The color of older individuals is slightly darker. The belly is light in color, most often yellow or white.

Most often, saltwater crocodiles can be found in freshwater bodies of water, where they prefer to breed. However, the reptile feels good in brackish water. Therefore, in some cases it even displaces sharks from coastal waters. However, brackish water is usually home to young individuals that have been displaced by older crocodiles. Males periodically engage in fights over territory among themselves.

As for food, young animals prefer to eat small fish, reptiles, birds and even large insects. Adults eat different foods. So, their diet includes, big crabs, monitor lizards, snakes and so on. They often even hunt large livestock, including wild pigs, antelope or buffalo. Hunting most often occurs at dusk, when the reptile is practically invisible. She lies in wait for the victim at a watering hole and when she comes up to drink some water, suspecting nothing, the crocodile instantly attacks the victim. The strength of his jaws is so great that he can crush the skull without any problems cattle. After capturing, it tries to take the victim underwater, where it will be more difficult for him to resist.

These reptiles also attack people, and quite a few cases are recorded every year. the main problem is that the crocodile usually attacks shallow water where an unsuspecting and relaxed person is calmly bathing and swimming. Interestingly, attacks occur even on land, although such cases are extremely rare and, as experts say, they are usually caused by aggression from people.

Males usually become sexually mature at the age of 16, and females at 12. Reproduction occurs at autumn-winter period. The female lays about 50 eggs in a hole, which she subsequently buries herself. Inside the so-called nest there is dirt mixed with leaves. The latter absorb moisture and maintain a constant temperature necessary for the eggs. Three months later, the cubs are born. It should be noted that all this time the female remains close to the nest and closely monitors her offspring, but this does not always help - often the eggs become prey to other predatory animals.

As soon as the “mother” hears the voices of her cubs, she begins to tear apart a huge pile and helps them hatch. Subsequently, he takes them closer to the water and teaches them to swim. However, no more than one percent of all offspring survive to sexual maturity, since young individuals are sent to be eaten by other predators.

The skin of this species of crocodiles is highly prized in the market, as a result of which their numbers have decreased significantly over the past 70 years. In addition, in some countries this species was completely exterminated. Most of these crocodiles can be found in Australia, where there are at least 100 thousand of them.

Philippine record holder

A few years ago in the Philippines a truly huge crocodile, whose length was as much as 6.4 meters and weighed more than a ton! According to local residents, Lately they were faced with the loss of livestock. After this, people began to disappear and then the public became seriously worried. After a while it turned out that animals were being eaten big crocodile, living in these parts. Authorities have even suggested that a girl who went missing in 2009 and a local farmer who disappeared a year later were the prey of a predator.

As a result of an appeal from citizens, it was decided to catch the animal, which was done. True, the authorities refused to describe the catching procedure itself, but immediately after this the residents of local villages calmed down, although in fact it is still unknown whether this crocodile can really be called a cannibal, because in the Philippines there are quite a few other predators that are not averse to feasting on human flesh. By the way, it was subsequently decided not to kill the reptile, but to send it to one of the zoos to attract tourists.

An employee of the Ministry of Labor Protection noted that this was the largest animal she had ever encountered. She also noted that the previous record belonged to another crocodile caught in these parts, whose length was 5.84 meters. The reptile is probably over 50 years old now. Whether this is true or not is unknown for sure.

Sarcosuchus

At the beginning of the Cretaceous period, the so-called Sarcosuchus lived on Earth. According to historians' research, he ate fish and also herbivorous dinosaurs. Lived in Africa.

For a long time, practically nothing was known about Sarcosuchus, but in the mid-twentieth century, the French paleontologist Albert-Felix de Lapparent discovered several teeth and armor scutes of an ancient animal in the Sahara. At the end of the century, another researcher was able to discover six Sarcosuchus skeletons at once. It was thanks to them that they were able to find out that this crocodile was perhaps one of the largest ever living on our planet. Thus, the length of his body reached 12 meters, the length of the skull was about 180 centimeters, and his weight was more than 8 tons. By the way, parts of the body of this predator can be found in one of the museums in Paris.

The largest alligator in the world

We think that in this same article we can tell you big alligator, which has ever been caught - its length was 5.8 m and its weight was more than a ton! It was discovered on Marsh Island in the US state of Louisiana. Interestingly, there were several more very large individuals on the island, but they were still slightly smaller in size.

The alligator family includes only two species: American or Chinese (accordingly, they live only in the USA and China). The latter, by the way, is under threat complete disappearance and now the animal can only be found in the Yangtze River valley. But American alligators are common in many areas of the country - in Florida alone there are more than one million individuals.

At first glance, this species of reptile is very slow, although this is not at all the case - at short distances the animal can reach speeds of up to 45 kilometers per hour! As for nutrition, young individuals eat small fish, snails, crustaceans, insects, and so on. As they grow older, they begin to feed on birds, more big fish, and sometimes carrion. But adult individuals can attack adult animals, for example, deer or even bears. They rarely attack humans because they are afraid. This, unfortunately, led to the fact that people stopped being afraid of alligators and began to get too close to them, as a result of which they, “defending” themselves, attacked. Only in five recent years There were more than 10 attacks that ended in death.

The mating season begins in the spring - as soon as the water warms up. Not far from the pond, the female builds a nest of grass, where she subsequently lays eggs - their number can vary between 20 and up. To prevent predators from eating them, the mother guards the eggs until the babies hatch. If they stay close to their mother, she protects them for another year.

Meanwhile, alligators are bred for meat and skin - this market is growing every year.

It is not so difficult to distinguish an alligator from a crocodile - the latter has a more elongated muzzle and a large fourth tooth on the upper jaw is visible.

Mother and son are walking along the sidewalk! And ahead is an open sewer hatch. Son:
- Mom, look, the crocodile is flying!
- Where?
And they passed by. Suddenly, after a minute, a man catches up, covered in... no, and says:
- Listen, mom, tell your little bastard that crocodiles don’t fly!!!
Joke

It just seems that crocodiles are all the same: big,... In fact, these mammals also have their own hierarchy, and it concerns their size. So, Top 10 largest crocodiles.
1

This crocodile is considered the largest among the rather small representatives of the toothed and tailed ones. The length of such “monsters” ranges from 6 to 7 meters, but sometimes reaches almost ten. Biggest saltwater crocodile was caught in India 100 years ago.

2

This cutie is slightly smaller in size than the saltwater crocodile. He likes to huddle along the banks and hide his five-meter body in the swamp. It is mortally dangerous for humans, which is proven by this fact: in Uganda, villagers caught one such “crumb”, which took 83 human lives with it into the swamp.

3

These crocodiles are also far from “baby” - their length reaches 5-6 meters. Despite the fact that the animal’s diet consists of fish and small animals, livestock can also easily go to dinner for the Orinoco crocodile. The colossus attacks people only if there is a threat to its offspring or its own life.

4

This animal lives on the Hindustan Peninsula. And although its length reaches 4-5 meters, the crocodile practically does not attack people. Only if they start making fun of his pointy muzzle. It is afraid of the tiger or its relative, the saltwater crocodile, because, despite its impressive size, it can easily become their prey.

What this cutie has in common with the black Cayenne is only their considerable length: caimans in nature grow up to 4.7 meters. But if you feed a South American crocodile well and scratch it behind the ear, it can stretch up to 6 meters.

6

Another toothy evergreen beast, the length of which varies from 4 to 4.5 meters (if we talk about males). Female Mississippi alligators are slightly smaller - only 3 meters. However, one day on Marsh Island, located in Louisiana, a crocodile almost six meters long was caught. Apparently it was a good year.

7

Although the name of this crocodile sounds quite cute - “gavial”, there is little charm and charm in it. Even a narrow and long face is not able to smooth out the horror caused by its size, which is as much as 5 green pimply meters.

8

Another crocodile that has chosen the Hindustan Peninsula as its place of residence. It has from 66 to 68 teeth, the impression of which is complemented by a wide muzzle and an impressive size: 4-5 meters. When he smiles or yawns, everyone faints or runs away.

9

The habitat of this mammal is the country South-East Asia. Compared to the above crocodiles, this guy is just a baby, since adult crocodiles of this species do not grow more than 3 meters. Maximum 4, if he is not stressed and fed well.

10

Closing our list of the largest crocodiles are the “babies” from New Guinea. Their height is quite small - only 3.5 meters, and only if we talk about males. However, even such “small” dimensions make him great, and terrible, and quite dangerous for those who dare to doubt his zealous character.

Crocodiles live long enough to reach the weight that will allow them to become the top of the food web in their ecosystems. A ton or a little more - isn't that enough to fight a buffalo, elephant or man? A deadly rotational jerk - and the crocodile not only grabbed the victim, but also tore off its head.

Big crocodiles

Among these animals there are amazing species, they not only reach huge sizes and weights by the standards of predators, but also live for a very long time - more than a hundred years. Today it is believed that the combed crocodile is a giant crocodile, the Nile crocodile is slightly smaller, and the Orinoco crocodile and the false gharial occupy third place. Although the sizes of the males caught recently are almost the same.

All these types of large crocodiles are cannibals. They feed on everything they can grab, watch for, or drag under water.Nile and swamp fish can themselves become prey for combed (sea) fish, so they prefer live b where there is no need to share territory with the combed fish.

Description of the giant crocodile - combed

Various sources call this monster differently: Indo-Pacific crocodile, saltwater crocodile, estuarine crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, saltwater crocodile. It is the world's largest reptile and sits at the top of the food chain. Males can be up to seven meters in length, but specimens found today rarely reach a size of 5 meters. Females are much smaller, their maximum length reaches only three meters. The weight, respectively, of males is maximum from a ton to two, females - up to 150 kg.

D For comparison: the weight of the Nile crocodile and its size are slightly less than that of the saltwater crocodile and are 4 meters in males with a weight of more than 400 kg.

G The head of the saltwater crocodile is very long and wide: the maximum known ratio of length to base width is 76 cm to 48 cm.

In the center of the muzzle, two ridges descend from the eyes down to the snout, hence the name - combed.

This species of crocodiles begins its journey into life with only 28 centimeters in length and 71 grams in weight. A year later, he already weighs two and a half kilograms and is one meter long.

In Crocodylus porosus pronounced sexual dimorphism. Males are considered sexually mature at 16 years old with a length of 3 meters, females a little earlier - at 12-14 years old, with a length of 2.0-2.1 meters.

The weight of a giant crocodile, however, like all other species, increases not linearly, but exponentially: a 6-meter-long male will weigh twice as much as a five-meter-long one. With age, crocodiles gain less and less length, although their weight may increase. It depends on the habitat (availability of food). Dominant males weigh more than normal males because they have the opportunity to feed over a larger area.

Habitat

The combed crocodile, perhaps the only one among all the others, when choosing a habitat, travels for a long time to sea ​​water. Crocodiles tagged with radio beacons swam up to 400-500 km in a few weeks. Moreover, they use the power of the current, simply drifting along it, while conserving energy. According to observations, saltwater crocodiles can interrupt their swimming, waiting for a favorable current for up to several days.

According to the descriptions given in the sources, the saltwater crocodile is less social than other species, is more intolerant of its male relatives, protecting females from them, and shows much more aggression.

IN daytime the reptile takes more sunbathing and bathes in water. At night, a giant crocodile hunts.

Although the crocodile is monstrously huge, it cannot be called clumsy: it is furiously active and fast, literally flying out of the water while attacking its prey. When swimming, it can reach speeds of up to 29 km per hour, although not for very long distances. The usual speed when traveling between islands, shores, and along rivers is up to five kilometers per hour. If the crocodile is in shallow water, where it can both swim and run, it will not leave the victim a chance to escape, no matter how fast it may be.

The development of the brain of a giant crocodile, despite its relatively small size (only 0.05% of its mass), can be judged by the way it literally studies the places of entry into the water and migration routes, depending on the season of its future victims.

How do saltwater crocodiles hunt?

Techniques used Crocodylus porosus for hunting is similar to the methods of all other species. Usually they circle silently around the intended victim, then attack it with a sharp jerk, either immediately swallowing it or or dragging under water to drown or crush. On land, unlike Nile crocodile combs have not been recorded in hunting, although their technique of knocking macaques off land with their tails and “cutting off” reptiles, lizards, birds, and mammals sitting on them from low-lying branches is known.

A peculiarity of the hunting of saltwater crocodiles (as well as others) is that their teeth are only capable of grasping and squeezing the victim, but not of chewing it. Small animals are simply swallowed, but large ones are dealt with differently - literally “unscrewing” pieces from it, rotating around its axis or with huge jerks.

Features of the structure of crocodile jaws

When grasped, the jaws are compressed as tightly as any known animal can. Typically, a crocodile's grip force is compared to the recorded bite of a spotted hyena - 16 kilonewtons versus 4.5.

This has been proven to be the result anatomical structure crocodile jaws. As a result of evolution, the muscles for closing the jaw in crocodiles have developed unusually, they take up a lot of space and are hard as stone. But the opening muscles are weak and small, so after being captured by live crocodiles, the muzzles are tied together with just a few layers of adhesive tape.

Life of crocodiles in captivity

Today, many zoos exhibit crocodiles, especially in Australia, where the population of combed species has traditionally been large.

A huge saltwater crocodile was caught in the Philippines in 2011.

The capture was initiated by local residents; they suspected this male of the death of the fisherman and the girl; in addition, he constantly hunted buffalo.

As soon as he was noticed (after three weeks of observation), a hundred local residents together with hunters went out to catch. This happened on September 3, 2011. With great difficulty they pulled him onto land; he struggled three times until the reptile was securely tied up.

He was measured at the zoo and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records (as a crocodile living in captivity). Lolong is a giant saltwater crocodile, its dimensions are 6.17 meters, 1075 kilograms. At the time of measurements he was about fifty years old.

In captivity, the crocodile, named after one of the hunters, lived until February 10, 2013. Died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest.

Local authorities could not decide what to do with the dead crocodile, so it lay in a deep-freezing chamber for a long time.

Today it is housed in the Manila National Museum of Natural History.

The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) named Cassius is considered the largest living representative of the order.

Cassius was recognized largest crocodile in captivity in 2013 (5.48 m). The record holder weighs about a ton (998 kg). He was caught in 2011 in Australia. At the moment, the animal is about 100 years old. His full name- Cassius Clay. It was named after the famous boxer Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay).


Cassius received the title of the largest crocodile after the death of the previous record holder - the Lolong crocodile, which reached a length of 6.17 meters. Lolong was also a member of the Crocodylus porosus species. Its representatives can live more than 100 years, grow up to 7 meters and weigh more than a ton.

The species Sarcosuchus imperator is considered the largest crocodiles to ever live. Individuals of this species lived in Africa 110 million years ago. The last fossilized remains were found in the Sahara Desert. Scientists suggest that over 50-60 years, crocodiles managed to grow to 11-12 meters in length and gain up to 8 tons of weight.