Crocos

The young crocodile emerges from the egg with a length of 20–30 cm (8–12 inches). At first it remains with its siblings concealed at the edge of its water habitat in order to avoid various predators. Principal among these are fishes and birds, but larger crocodiles also prey upon the young.

Crocodiles are mostly nocturnal animals. They are predators and spend most of their time in the water; although they are also known to make journeys of several kilometres over land. In the first weeks of life, crocodiles eat insects, crustaceans, snails, small fishes, frogs, and tadpoles. Older crocodiles mainly eat fish and are more apt to prey upon waterfowl and on mammals. Occasionally, a member of one of the larger species eats a human, though such incidents happen so infrequently that crocodiles cannot be generally regarded as man-eaters.

Crocodiles are sexually dimorphic, and adult males are larger than females. Copulation occurs in the water, and it is preceded by a complex courtship in which the animals signal each other using changes in body profile, touch, and vocalization. Chemical signals are probably also part of courtship. The male then mounts the back of the female, and both animals rotate their tails so that the respective cloacae are brought into contact and intromission of the male erectile organ is achieved.

Interesting Crocodile Facts

1. Crocodiles are carnivores, which generally means they eat only meat. However, a recent study proved they also enjoy an occasional taste of fruit.

2. Crocodiles can go through 4,000 teeth over a lifetime.

Crocodiles have between 60-110 teeth. When a crocodile loses a tooth, there is a small replacement already on standby. They are able to replace each of their 80 teeth up to 50 times over their lifespan.

3. A crocodile’s jaws can apply 5,000 pounds of pressure per square inch – the strongest bite of any animal in the world.

A human’s jaw only produces 100 pounds of pressure per square inch in comparison. A crocodiles bite is 10 times more powerful than a great white shark.

5. An easy way to tell the difference between a crocodile and an alligator, is when a crocodile closes it’s mouth, all teeth are visible – as the upper and lower jaw are the same width.

Whereas an alligator possesses small depressions in the upper jaw for the lower teeth, meaning they are not visible when their mouth is shut.

6. The longest crocodile captured alive measured 6.17 m (20.2 ft) and weighed at 1,075 kg.

7.facts-about-crocsCrocodiles swallow small stones to improve digestion. These stones help grind up the food in their stomachs.

Swallowing stones (known as ‘gastroliths’) is especially beneficial for crocodiles that eat their prey whole, or for tougher animals with shells and bones. A gastrolith can remain inside the stomach for years.