American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)

American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - Printable Version

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American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - epaiva - 12-27-2020

The American crocodile is a species of crocodilian found in the neotropics, it is the most widespread of four crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the Coast of Mexico to as far south as Peru and Venezuela. The habitat of American crocodile consists largerly of coastal areas, it is also found in river sistems, but tends to prefer salinity, resulting in the species congregating in brackish lakes, mangrove swamps, lagoons, cays, and small islands.
They are also found in hypersaline lakes, one of the largest known populations inhabits Lago Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic.
The American crocodile is one of the larger crocodile species. Males can reach lengths of 5 meters with larger ones found in Costa Rica, on average mature males are more in the range of 3 to 4,1 meters long, as with other crocodile species females are smaller rarely exceedind 3,8 m.

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RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - epaiva - 12-28-2020

American Crocodiles are big powerful animals, in Venezuela there are not cases of them attacking humans normally they stay away from people.
Credit to @crocparasites13 and @everglades_eric

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RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - Balam - 12-28-2020

Tárcoles river, Costa Rica

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By Rosa Gamboias

RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - epaiva - 12-28-2020

American Crocodile skull

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RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - Balam - 12-30-2020

Conglomeration in Costa Rica

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By David Jhan

RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - Balam - 01-03-2021

Tarcoles river, Costa Rica

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By Philippe BOISSEL

RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - Balam - 01-19-2021

Tumbes, Peru

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By Santiago Bullard C.

RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - Balam - 01-21-2021

"American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) out basking just before sunset on the edge of a brackish lagoon at Florida bay. The American crocodile has a sympatric range with the American alligator, the southern end of Everglades National Park is the only location on earth where crocs and gators naturally co-exist. They are able to minimize competition between each other by occupying different habitat types within the Everglades, the crocodile prefers brackish tidal mangroves, in comparison the alligator thrives in a number of different freshwater ecosystems. The much more common American alligator has a broad wide snout with blunt teeth whereas the American crocodile has a noticeably different dentition and also sports more narrow snout hence the species name “acutus”. American crocodile are a state listed endangered species in Florida, they are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN across their coastal neotropical range."

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By Sean McHugh

RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - epaiva - 03-17-2022

American Crocodile with its prey, pictures were taken in Panama by my good Friend Manuel Perez.
Credit to @manoloperez

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RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - epaiva - 07-27-2022

American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in Caracas, Venezuela

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RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - epaiva - 10-10-2023

American crocodile in Venezuela

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RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - KRA123 - 10-29-2023

The Rio Tarcoles American crocodile named Mike Tyson has been measured. At 4.9 meters, this is actually the largest confirmed measurement for this species that I know of. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wryWBqleOqo

RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - epaiva - 11-01-2023

(10-29-2023, 04:26 AM)KRA123 Wrote: The Rio Tarcoles American crocodile named Mike Tyson has been measured. At 4.9 meters, this is actually the largest confirmed measurement for this species that I know of. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wryWBqleOqo

He is a monster for sure, thanks for sharing it with us

RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - GuateGojira - 11-02-2023

(10-29-2023, 04:26 AM)KRA123 Wrote: The Rio Tarcoles American crocodile named Mike Tyson has been measured. At 4.9 meters, this is actually the largest confirmed measurement for this species that I know of. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wryWBqleOqo

Thank you for sharing.

Yes, with 4.94 m is the longest American crocodile ever measured, but is possible that another one was even bigger!

Dr Brady Barr and his team, in 2007 during one of his shows in NatGeo, captured a giant male in the Tarcoles River, Costa Rica. The animal was measured AND weighed, which was something exceptional as no giant has been actually weighed in the entire area. The results are:

Total length: 482 cm, but its tail tip was cut/incomplete, so it is completelly possible that this animal measured c.5 meters with complete tail.
Weight: 1250 lbs - 567 kg, actually weighed, gear included.

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This giant is the biggest American crocodile ever recorded and among the biggest crocodilians known by man, only surpassed by the biggest Salties or the big ones at the Nile (and maybe, a black caiman?). I recorded the video with an old celphone, but the show was in Spanish. I tried to found the original show in Youtube by I could not found it. It was about the blind crocodiles of Tarcoles.

However, I found two scientific documents that mention this animal. First, Rainwater et al. (2011) quote this animal with ID CA-471 and a total length of 483 cm (1 cm more), but sadly do not mention its weight:

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But in other document Dr Rainwater and his team did mention all, not only its length but also its weight! Body mass was adjusted for the gear this time:

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So, this is an official scientific record (Total length 483 cm and weight of 537.45 kg), probably the longest and certainly the heaviest American crocodile captured and recorded by scientists (for the moment). We can only guess and dream about which giants (maybe even bigger!) still exist in the area.

RE: American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) - Balam - 11-02-2023

@GuateGojira that's a great find. Orinoco crocodiles surpass in size both American crocodiles and black caimans with modern records of 5+ meter specimens, despite the massive overhunting.

A mature Orinoco male from the Patrullero de Chávez breeding facility in Venezuela is claimed to measure 4.9 meters in lenght but with a weight of 730 kg. Orinocos are notorious for their weight relative to lenght as well.

The Nile crocodile is popularly regarded as the second largest crocodile in the world, but that's greatly disputed when we consider the historical sizes of Orinoco crocodiles which challenged even the largest salties. For context, no reliable record exists of a Nile crocodile above 6.1 meters in lenght, where despite their massive populations, males above 4.5 meters are very rare to come by.

The Neotropical crocodiles certainly deserve their dues in this regard.