| Crocodile, American | |||
| Genus | Crocodylus | ||
| Species | acutus | ||
| Status | Endangered | ||
| Habitat | Both freshwater (including river, lakes and reservoirs) and brackish coastal habitats (including tidal estuaries, coastal lagoons and mangrove swamps). A large population is present in Lago Enriquillo (Dominican Republic), a landlocked hyper-saline lake. Crocodiles in these conditions osmoregulate primarily by drinking available freshwater. Possibly the most unusual location is a population which occupies the brackish water cooling canals at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in Florida. This species also constructs long burrows for aestivation and as a retreat from adverse conditions. Considerable overland distances can also be travelled in search of new habitats. | ||
| Distribution | Southern United States, Central and South America: Belize, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Florida (extreme south), Guatemala, Haiti, Hispaniola, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Margarita, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad, Venezuela | ||
| Length | 20 feet (6 meters) | ||
| Weight | Up to 500 pounds (227 kg) | ||
| Diet | Primarily fish, and other aquatic species including turtles and crabs. Also takes birds. Feeds primarily at night. Juveniles take small fish and invertebrates. Often blamed for the disappearance of domestic animals in more populated areas. Occasional reports of attacks on humans, but authenticated records are very rare. | ||
| Feeding | Adults drift slolwy or lie in wait until their prey swims by. Then, they quickly clamp down their huge mouths on their prey. Crocs have sharp teeth and powerful jaws, so their prey has little chance of escaping. | ||
| Breeding |
When the time comes to have young, the female crocodile will dig a hole in the ground, lay her eggs, and cover them with rotting vegetation. The heat of the decomposing plants helps keep the eggs at the correct temperature. The mother also takes care to guard the next from predators that eat crocodile eggs.
Later, the babies break out of their leathery shells with the help of a special egg tooth on their snout. Soon after hatching, the babies will shed this tooth. They move to the water where they eat insects and fish. | ||
| No. of Young | 30 | ||
| Conservation | Hunters have killed nearly all existing American crocodiles. Between 1950 and 1980, so many were destroyed for their leather that all crocodile species became endangered. At one time, the American crocodile was found all throughout southern Florida, the Caribbean islands, along the east and west coasts of Mexico, and in Venezuela and Colombia. Today, only a few hundred surviving American crocodiles are found in Florida's Everglades and the Florida Keys. | ||
| Interesting Facts | Crocodiles first appeared during the dinosaur age, some 65 million years ago. They are believed to have belonged to a family called the archosaurs. | ||
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| Animal Communication Panel | |||
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