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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
American
crocodile |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Reptilia |
| ORDER: |
Crocodylia |
| FAMILY: |
Crocodylidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Crocodylus acutus |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
The American crocodile has a large lizard-like
body with four short legs and a long muscular
tail. Their hides are rough and scaled. Juvenile
American crocodiles are dark olive brown with
darker cross-bands on tail and body, while adults
are uniformly brown with darker cross-bands on
tail.
Alligators
and crocodiles are similar in appearance, but
exhibit a number of differences. Alligators are
dark colored with a broad, rounded snout and are
usually found in fresh water. Crocodiles are grayish-green
and prefer coastal, brackish, and salt-water habitats.
They have a narrow, tapered, triangular snout.
Also, the fourth tooth on either side of the lower
jaw of an alligator fits into an internal socket
in the upper jaw so that these teeth are hidden
when the mouth is closed. In a crocodile, the
fourth tooth is always exposed.
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| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
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| SIZE: |
Maximum length of 6 m (19.8 ft.); unconfirmed reports
of 7 m (23 ft.) specimens exist |
| MALE |
Adult
males typically reach lengths of
5 m (16.4 ft.) |
| FEMALE |
text |
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| WEIGHT: |
Adults may reach 400-500 kg (882-1102 lbs.), with
particularly large adults surpassing 1000 kg (2204.6
lbs.) |
| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
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| DIET: |
The crocodile feeds primarily on fish, but will
eat crustaceans, turtles, and occasionally birds
and mammals |
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| INCUBATION: |
90 days; The temperature of the nest determines
the sex of the young. If the nest is below 30
degrees Celsius (86°F) most hatchlings are
female. If the nest is above 34 degrees Celsius
(93°F) most hatchlings are male. Nest temperatures
between 30-34 degrees Celsius will produce similar
numbers of both sexes.
Hatching
occurs from late July to early August.
Compared
to other crocodilians, the American crocodile
is a poor mother. She is very timid and is easily
frightened away from the nest.
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| CLUTCH
SIZE |
20-60
eggs |
| BREEDING
PERIOD |
text |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
At about 8-10 years of age or 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m)
in length |
| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Averages about 45 years |
| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
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| RANGE: |
Found in extreme southern Florida, the Caribbean
Islands, Central America, and northern South America;
Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti, and Dominican
Republic |
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| HABITAT: |
Estuarine, coastal, and freshwater habitats |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
text |
| LOCAL |
text |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Vulnerable |
| CITES |
Appendix I |
| USFWS |
Endangered |
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| 1. |
American crocodiles hunt by remaining completely
motionless in the water. When prey is close they
attack - grabbing the animal and drowning it with
a maneuver referred to as the "death roll."
In order to attract fish for their meal, they may
regurgitate bits of food. |
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| 2. |
Crocodiles swallow stones to aid in digestion and
to control buoyancy in the water. |
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| 3. |
Juvenile crocodiles, unlike adults, are unable to
handle the salt content of the ocean environment.
They are capable of drinking the freshwater film
of water that floats upon the top layer of seawater.
Adults can handle the normal saline levels of seawater
by extracting the salt from their body using salt
glands on their tongue. |
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| 4. |
A crocodile's ectothermic metabolism is extremely
efficient. A 450 kg (992.1 lb.) crocodile can survive
for long periods of time between meals. Crocodiles
have brains and hearts that are more advanced than
any other living reptile. |
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| 5. |
Male
crocodiles may exhibit courtship and territorial
behaviors such as vocalization, and tail and head
slapping. They are also able to create infrasonic
sounds beneath the water, which causes ripples to
form on the surface. |
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| 6. |
A
female crocodile tries to get the male's attention
through visual, tactile, olfactory, and audible
enticements. The female initiates courtship displays.
Before mating though, she must ease the aggressiveness
of the male whose territory she has invaded. |
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American crocodiles are ecologically important
as predators. They help the environment by controlling
some over-populated fish species that may cause
an imbalance in the aquatic ecosystem. Unfortunately,
the American crocodile and other large carnivores
that live in coastal zones are at risk because
rapid development causes a domino effect for future
imbalances in the ecosystem.
Humans are a crocodile's main threat, having hunted
them for their skin since the 1930s. Today, the
occurrence of crocodile hunting has decreased
due to their protected status, but habitat loss
and the increasing human population are an on-going
struggle for American crocodiles.
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Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Reptiles
and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1991.
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Haliday, T. and K. Adler, eds. Encyclopedia of
Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Facts on
File, Inc., 1987. |
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Ross, C., ed. Crocodiles and Alligators.
New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1989.
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| Steel,
Rodney. Crocodiles. London: Cristopher Helm
Ltd., 1989. |
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| http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/brittoncrocs/csp_cacu.htm |
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