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The saltwater or estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest of all living reptiles, and is often said to be the most dangerous to humans. It is found in suitable habitat throughout Southeast Asia and northern Australasia.
This crocodile is an opportunistic predator capable of taking any animal up to the size of a water buffalo, in the water or on dry land. Generally very lethargic – a trait which helps it survive months at a time without food – it typically loiters in the water or basks in the sun through much of the day, usually preferring to hunt at night. It is, however, capable of moving with great speed when required, striking without warning and having the strength to break a large animal's legs with its tail, or crush a full-grown bovid's skull between its jaws.
Adult male saltwater crocodiles are typically 4.5–5 meters long, although exceptionally large individuals may surpass 6 meters in length. Females are much smaller than males, with typical female body lengths in the range of 2.5–3 meters.
Saltwater crocodiles generally spend the tropical wet season in freshwater swamps and rivers, moving downstream to estuaries in the dry season, and sometimes travelling far out to sea.
Saltwater crocodiles are known in the Northern Territory of Australia as 'salties', and also as 'boogers', despite not being true alligators. The Alligator Rivers are misnamed after the saltie's resemblance to alligators as compared to freshwater crocodiles, which also inhabit the Northern Territory.
External links
- Recent Crocodile Attacks in Australia
- Crocodylus porosus (Schneider, 1801), by Adam Britton from the Crocodilian Species List.