American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)

[GuateGojira]

(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.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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:

*This image is copyright of its original author

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:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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. Reply