Size comparisons

[AndresVida]

The Largest Reported Nile Crocodile

Hans Besser, a respected German naturalist claimed to have shot a massive Nile crocodile on the banks of the Mbaka River, near the mouth of Lake Malawi (sometimes called Lake Nyasa), Tanzania in 1903. This crocodile allegedly measured 760 cm but was missing around a quarter of its tail, it was so large that initially Besser believed it to be an abandoned canoe. At first this just seems like another ‘big fish’ story, an exaggerated monster far too large to have existed in the realm of reality, similar to the allegedly 863.6 cm (28 ft 4 in) crocodile shot by Krystina Pawlowski in 1957 (Wood, 1982). However, Besser went on to provide other measurements he made from the giant crocodile that seemed to affirm its enormous size. The skull alone was 140 cm, this was likely measured from the premaxilla to the posterior margin of the articular, the maximum width of the skull was an astonishing 96 cm (wider than Sue's the Tyrannosaurus skull!!). The crocodile also had a maximum height above the riverbank of 93 cm and a belly circumference of 426 cm.


It is certainly tempting to take Besser at his word since these additional measurements do lend credence to his claim. In his book Charles Guggisberg described Besser as “an excellent field naturalist whose reliability cannot be questioned.” Yet despite this it is still entirely possible that Besser exaggerated the size of this crocodile and in order to avoid suspicion also fabricated additional measurements. Besser could have measured a smaller crocodile and then scaled up those measurements to the size of his 760 cm giant. While this scenario is possible, I find it unlikely that a well-respected naturalist would risk his reputation by engaging in such unscrupulous conduct, and for seemingly no or at least very little reward or recognition. As such, this record should not be outright dismissed but it also cannot be accepted, as there remains the possibility that Besser either intentionally or unintentionally exaggerated his measurements.

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