We, living in relatively cool countries, do not understand the irrational sacred horror that crocodiles caused among the same ancient Egyptians. They were worshiped and hated, revered as messengers of the gods and destroyed, as best they could, mummified and eaten. But people have never been indifferent to them.
This is just not surprising: it is difficult to ignore 4-5 meters of muscles armed with sharp teeth. More surprisingly, something else is more likely - these creatures have inhabited the Earth for more than 250 million years, having not significantly changed during this time. This can only say about one thing: a crocodile is an ideal creation of nature, which simply does not need to be further improved.
But all the same, a legitimate and completely logical question arises: where does the largest crocodile live? What species does it belong to? And most importantly: how big is it? We will try to answer.
Ridged or Nile?
For a start, it would be nice to figure out who gave the world the champion what species: the combed crocodile or the Nile? The answer to this question is not so easy. Both species are impressive, but almost the same size: males up to 5-5.5 meters, females are shorter and lighter. Some individuals can grow up to 6-7 meters, but this is rather an exception, champions and winners. With the weight it is a little easier: the ridged one seems to be more massive, although again not much: the average weight is 500-600, the peak weight is 1000 and more. But the Nile is practically the same.
But they have completely different habitats. The Nile crocodile, as it should, occupied the banks of the Nile and the surrounding area, populating Africa. The cresty one settled on the shores of Australia and Asia, simultaneously occupying all the islands located between it. And this is all thanks to the fact that it tolerates salt water well and can swim impressive distances. Some crocodiles were found even in Japan, to the great surprise of the local population.
With the quantity, too, everything is not as simple as we would like it to be. Nile is not yet listed in the Red Book, but individual populations have already been destroyed. Saltwater feels good in Australia under the strict supervision of wildlife guards, but on many islands, for example, Seychelles, to the delight of tourists, it is completely exterminated.
Therefore, although officially the leader in the team competition belongs to the combed one, the decision can be challenged. But in the individual competition, such problems should not arise.
Cassius Clay
This is not only the real name of Mohamed Ali, but also the longest crocodile living today. This favorite of tourists recently celebrated its 110th anniversary, but is not going to leave us yet. On his birthday, he cheerfully destroyed a 20-pound birthday cake made from raw meat.
And this is quite logical, because your 5.5 meters and a ton of weight need to be well fed. They say that it used to be even longer, until it lost a piece of its tail in a fight. But even the remaining carcass was enough to get into the Guinness Book of Records and even take a whole spread there instead of the usual one page.
The birthday boy did not share with anyone
He has lived in captivity since 1984, when he was caught and transferred to a crocodile park in Australia. Here he found a calm life, hearty delicious food and worldwide fame. What more could a crocodile wish for in old age?
But Cassius Clay once nearly lost his laurels. In the Philippines, an even larger specimen was caught and taken to the local zoo - 6 meters 17 centimeters from the tip of the tail to the front teeth.
Caught by the whole world
Lolong is a bad boy, suspected of being addicted to human meat and the death of several people. Therefore, the inhabitants of the town of Bunawan jointly caught the predator. Someone far-sighted advised not to kill him, but to hand him over to the local zoo in order to make him a curiosity that attracts tourists. The cunning plan worked, and every day hundreds of people came to see this monster with their own eyes - a solid addition to the local budget.
Unfortunately, life in captivity was not to his taste. In protest (or foolishly), he ate a nylon cord and a few days later floated belly up. The veterinarian witnessed death, and the title returned to Clay.
Uncrowned champions
But the confrontation of these heavyweights is not the limit. And, most likely, the largest crocodiles still swim somewhere in the Nile or the waters of Australia. Perhaps someday they will at least be able to be seen.
Like, for example, the Nile crocodile Gustav, who has not yet been caught by any expedition. Although many tried, what his special examples say - a few scars from bullets on his skin. But he paid for them. It is believed that more than 300 human deaths are on his conscience.
The last time they managed to put him in a cage, an enraged Gusta broke it and hid in the waters of the Nile. The result of the expedition was a film from National Geographic and the exact length of his body is 6 meters 10 centimeters. At the moment, this is an absolute record. Although it has not yet been possible to give the award to the winner. But the film "Primal Evil" was made about him.
Real primal evil
It's good that their older relatives - intermediate variants between dinosaurs and crocodiles - are already extinct. Compared to them, Gustav, Lolong, and Cassius would be dwarfs, undersized, cute and harmless lizards. See for yourself:
- Sarcosuchus. Length - up to 12 meters. Weight - up to 8 tons. Lived in modern Africa 110 million years ago.
- Deinosuchus. Length - up to 15 meters. Weight - 8-10 tons. He lived 80-73 million years ago.
- Pursusaurus. Length - up to 15 meters. Weight - up to 7 tons. Extinct about 8 million years ago.
Of course, any scientist would like to see and describe such crocodiles. But the consequences of such a meeting might not have pleased him at all.
Crocodiles are the most ancient creatures on our planet, it is known that they have lived for 83.5 million years, when dinosaurs still lived on our planet. People are afraid of these predators and try to stay away from them. All crocodiles have canine teeth, so they can chew.
We bring to your attention a list of the largest crocodiles on Earth.
Sharp crocodile reaches up to 4 meters in length, the adult reaches 335 kg. Their speed of movement on land reaches 10 miles per hour, on water they can move up to 20 miles per hour. This type of crocodile is of particular danger to humans. Sharp crocodiles do not like low temperatures, therefore, with extreme drops in temperature, mass extinctions of the species can occur. Such cases have taken place.
Crocodiles of this species feed mainly on fish, which, in turn, produce hygiene of the crocodile's body. Even sharks are afraid of this species when crossing in a common area.
The diet of the black caiman contains such dangerous representatives of wildlife as anaconda and piranhas. They reach a length of about 3.9 meters., and weigh about 350 kg. This type of crocodile is not particularly aggressive towards humans, but it is still considered one of the most dangerous. Black caimans live mainly in lakes and rivers; females are always smaller in size than males. They prefer to eat fish or turtles, they can also eat snakes.
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Nowadays, you can meet a crocodile of this species in Venezuela or in Colombia. Now this species is on the verge of extinction. Reach crocodiles of this species are up to 4.1 meters long, and can weigh up to 380 kg. You can also meet crocodiles of this species and larger.
Crocodiles of this species feed mainly on fish and reptiles, they can also eat birds or mammals. When laying eggs, they also continue to hunt for anacondas, caimans, they can also hunt jaguars.
The Nile crocodile rightfully occupies the 2nd place of honor in the list of the largest crocodiles on the planet Earth. Reach 4.2 meters in length, and can weigh up to 410 kg. Crocodiles of this species are quite aggressive predators, they attack humans about 200 to 700 times a year. Moreover, in 60% of cases with a lethal outcome. In 1905, they managed to catch a Nile crocodile weighing 1 ton, while the length was about 6 meters.
Predators of swamps and estuaries usually choose for habitation. Power when bitten reaches 2 tons... The diet includes birds, fish, mammals. This species has sharply decreased after a lively hunt for them because of the valuable hide.
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The largest crocodile in the world
The largest crocodile in the world is a combed crocodile, in another way it is called sea. It reaches 4.5 meters in length and can weigh about 450 kg.... These reptiles are found in salt waters and seas. The largest combed crocodile was met 6.7 meters, and the weight reached 1000 kg. Saltwater crocodiles are less aggressive than Nile ones, but there is a case in history where combed crocodiles attacked 400 Japanese soldiers as they retreated during a battle. A representative of this species can be found in the Philippine Zoo, many people come to see it
Reptiles have always evoked a sense of fear and awe in humans. Crocodiles occupy a special place in this niche, because their body shields and huge frightening mouths really look scary. It is known that today crocodiles, or rather their intellectual abilities, have not been fully studied. Many scientists assume that such predators are not able to think, their habits are controlled only by instincts inherent in nature. However, others, carefully trying to understand the world of reptiles, are convinced that crocodiles are endowed with remarkable intelligence. How else to explain that these predators possess such a developed and, perhaps, the most time-honed skill of camouflaging and hiding until the right moment?
As for other aspects of the study of carnivorous reptiles, science knows a lot. For example, the weight, length of crocodiles, their natural species, the unique structure of the pupil. But this article will focus on the maximum length of such a dangerous predator and factors that can significantly affect this value.
Combed crocodile
One of the largest reptiles in the world is the crocodile (Crocodylus porosus - lat.). It lives in fresh and salt waters in the Philippines, southeastern Asia and the Solomon Islands. The main feature of this reptile is two ridges on the head, located symmetrically relative to the eyes, and a unique body covered with many pointed tubercles of various sizes. It is because of such natural features that a dangerous predator can be called a bumpy, sea, brackish or spongy crocodile.
Most often, individuals of this species have a belly color from yellow to dark sandy. Brightness depends on the age of the crocodile: the younger the predator, the brighter the color. The main color of the entire upper part (occipital, dorsal and caudal) is dark olive or olive brown. The length of the crocodile, which keeps at bay not only animals living with it in the immediate vicinity, but also people living in the vicinity of reservoirs, is simply amazing.
Individual sizes
Many are very surprised when they find out what the maximum length of the combed crocodile is. In recent decades, in nature, such predators have grown only up to the size of 5.0-5.5 meters in length and weighing 500 kg. Usually, a newly hatched calf weighs about 70 kg, and subsequently one head of an adult male tightens up to 200 kg. It is worth noting that this order of freshwater has almost the most pronounced sexual dimorphism. Males of the bumpy crocodile are usually twice as large, heavier and stronger than females, which, in turn, reach only 2.7-3.4 meters in length and weigh from 70 to 150 kg.
However, such dimensions cannot be considered accurate, because the length of the largest crocodile, caught more than one century ago and having characteristic pointed growths on its powerful back, was about 10 meters, and the weight of the individual fluctuated around 3 tons. This giant was an exception to the rule for scientists, showing that under certain conditions a predator can become a truly terrifying giant. In general, since then, such giants have no longer been found. There were also smaller and shorter individuals. Therefore, it is considered reliable that the combed crocodile has a length of 7 meters. It is to such maximum sizes that some males of this species are currently able to grow.
Weight
The weight of an adult reptile predator (male), which includes a crocodile, can range from 400 kg to 2 tons. The most important factors that affect the weight of a particular representative are the age and length of the crocodile. A young male will always be lighter than an adult predator of the same size. However, it is known that captive crocodiles gain weight faster than their free counterparts. Also, weight also depends on the physique. For example, individuals living in the territory of Sarawak Malaysia) have relatively short tails, which is why they weigh a little more than Australian knobby crocodiles.
Conclusions of scientists regarding the maximum size of crocodiles
The length of the combed crocodile depends a lot on its population, health, genetics and nutrition. This is proved by a study by Australian scientists. They caught males of this species that lived in different conditions and habitats. It turns out that representatives of such predators, which had a permanent habitat, grew up to 4.31 m and weighed from 408 kg. Wandering reptiles could not boast of such dimensions. They reached a length of only 3.89 m and weighed only about 350 kg.
Five longest crocodiles after the combed one
There are a little more than 20 crocodile species in the world. Among them, along with the crested crocodile, which is considered the longest in nature, there are some more individuals that deserve mention:
- Nile crocodile, males of which can grow up to 5 m in length.
- Orinoco crocodile with a maximum performance of 4.5-5.0 m.
- Sharp American crocodile, the size of which is from 4 m.
- growing in the wild up to 4.7 m. By the way, there is evidence that in the reserves it was possible to feed such beauties almost up to 6 m in length.
- - 4.0-4.5 m.
Indisputable facts
Experts always argue about the maximum size of the creatures once living on Earth, because it is difficult to determine, for example, even the length of a crocodile from the surviving remains (bones and skin). This method in itself underestimates the total length of the creature, because it is necessary to compare the ratio of the size of the skull to the skin, which is dry. This suggests that at the time when the predator remained alive, it was still longer, at least by 10 cm, and there is no need to talk about the maximum. One thing is clear that more than 100 years ago, real giants lived on our planet, the size of which can only be guessed at.
A combed or saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) named Cassius is considered the largest living representative of the order. 
Cassius was named the largest crocodile in captivity in 2013 (5.48 m). The record holder weighs about a ton (998 kg). He was caught in 2011 in Australia. At the moment, the animal is about 100 years old. His full name is Cassius Clay. It was named after the famous boxer Mohammed Ali (née Cassius Marcellus Clay). 
Cassius received the title of the largest crocodile after the death of the previous record holder - crocodile Lolong, who reached 6.17 meters in length. Lolong was also Crocodylus porosus. Its representatives can live for over 100 years, grow up to 7 meters and weigh over a ton.
The largest crocodile ever living is the Sarcosuchus imperator species. Individuals of this species lived in Africa 110 million years ago. The last fossils were found in the Sahara Desert. Scientists suggest that in 50-60 years crocodiles managed to grow up to 11-12 meters in length and gain up to 8 tons of weight.
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