Crocodile facts

Crocodiles are voracious, semi-aquatic reptiles, with a lineage stretching back to the age of the dinosaurs. While contemporary crocodiles are relatively limited in their diversity, huge and varied crocodiles used to roam the Earth. And it’s not true that they’ve gone unchanged for millennia: crocodiles have constantly evolved over the past two million years. Today, they range from aggressive saltwater hunters to tree-climbing juveniles. They can hold their breath for 24 hours, live over 100 years, and even reproduce without a mate. Don’t let them fool you when they cry, though…

• While crocodiles aren’t super diverse today, they used to be very varied throughout the prehistoric period. One type of crocodile is thought to have grown to 10 metres long and even hunted dinosaurs.
• Despite crocodiles being thought of as mindless, vicious ambush hunters, some use tools to attract prey by placing sticks on their heads to lure birds.
• The saltwater crocodile has one of the strongest bites on the planet, chowing down at a whopping 3,700 pounds per square inch, the weight of a small car.
• Crocodiles do produce tears, but not to trick people into pity, as the saying ‘crocodile tears’ would suggest. Scientists think it's a physiological response connected to eating.
• Crocodiles can hold their breath for up to 24 hours by slowing their heart rate to just 2-3 beats per minute.
• Research on ancient crocodile teeth suggests some ancient crocodiles were vegetarian, and that vegetarianism evolved at least three separate times throughout prehistory.
• Crocodiles can have virgin births. The first officially recorded case was in 2018, when a female crocodile in a zoo in Costa Rica laid a clutch of eggs after living alone for 16 years.

There are 26 species of crocodilians recognised by science right now, and they’re divided into three main categories: eight species of alligators and caimans, 16 species of true crocodiles, and then two species in a group called gharials which can only be found in Asia and tend to have more elongated, narrow snouts.¹ Scientists think a couple more species are on the brink of being formally recognised too.²

While there isn’t a dazzling diversity of crocodile species today, ancient crocodile fossils can be found all over the world suggesting that the reptiles used to be a diverse and populus animal throughout prehistory.³Most crocodiles today are meat-eating ambush predators that live mostly in freshwater. But over the last 200 million years, crocodiles were varied in their preferred meals: some preyed on huge dinosaurs, and even snacked on insects, fruits and plants.⁴

Alligators are a type of animal colloquially called “crocodile” because they are part of the order of crocodilians. The current 26 species of crocodilians are split into three groups, of which one group is alligators and caimans, one is true crocodiles, and one is gharials.⁵

Several differences among the families can help tell gators and crocs apart. Crocodiles are large, aggressive ambush-hunters mainly found in saltwater ecosystems. They are usually green, olive, or brown in colour, and typically have a narrow, Y-shaped snout. Alligators, on the other hand, are found mostly in freshwater habitats like lakes, marshes, and rivers – they are dark grey or black, and they have a wide, shovel-shaped snout.⁶ Snout and skull shape is the main way scientists tell gators and crocs apart, and it’s how gharials can be identified too – gharials have extremely long and slender snouts, similar to swordfish.⁷

Curiously, in 2018 Japanese scientists also discovered that alligators have shorter bones in their back legs and longer ones in their front legs.⁸

Crocodiles are not dinosaurs, although they are closely related to dinosaurs, at least more closely than any other living reptiles today.⁹ Both dinosaurs and crocodiles were archosaurs though, along with birds – the only other type of archosaur left. So technically crocodiles and birds are very closely related, despite evolving entirely differently over 220 million years. ¹⁰
    
The ancestors of crocodiles, Crocodylomorphs, first emerged more than 200 million years ago.¹¹ Around 95 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period, crocodiles as we know them today evolved, and slowly split into crocodiles and alligators.

While today’s crocodiles and alligators don’t have a lot of variety, crocodiles throughout history sported a massive range of adaptations and differences.

The crocs’ ability to tolerate saltwater likely gave them a leg up and allowed them to move to new and vast territories.¹² That’s why crocodiles are found more widely all over the world than alligators.

Some ancient crocodiles were huge. Scientists discovered a lineage of giant crocodiles called Deinosuchus in North America. Dating back from 75 million years ago, this giant could grow up to 10 metres long – that’s the size of a bus! – and was the largest carnivore in its ecosystem, chowing down on dinosaurs too.¹³

Several ancient crocodile species are thought to have had close encounters with early humans. Fossils from a gorge in Tanzania helped scientists identify an almost 6-metre-long, horned crocodile that likely ate hominids (great apes) for breakfast lunch and dinner about two million years ago.¹⁴ They dubbed the ancient species Crocodylus anthropophagus – Latin for human eater. Fossils stored in the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi also helped identify an 8.3-metre-long croc species. that liked to eat early humans too.¹⁵

Despite crocodiles often being called “living fossils”, research suggests they’ve been evolving a lot and quite rapidly over the past two million years. All current crocodile species look similar among themselves not because they’re keeping the same ancient shapes, but because different species have convergently evolved to look similar over time.

Crocodilians live in freshwater and saltwater habitats      almost all over the warmest areas of the world. ¹⁶ They’re widely distributed in Africa, and throughout Asia from the top of the Indian peninsula down to the top of Australia. They’re widespread in South America and Central America, and in a couple of southern states of the United States – though South America is mainly populated by alligators rather than true crocodiles.¹⁷

These large, scaly reptiles are semi-aquatic: they spend some of their time in water, and some of their time off on the shores and surrounding land. While alligators mostly live in freshwater habitats like swamps, marshes, and rivers, crocodiles are also found in saltwater ecosystems like deltas and ocean shores.

Several crocodiles have been recorded reaching enormous sizes over the past couple of decades, and who knows what huge crocodiles are hanging out around the world without ever having been spotted by a human.

In 2011, a huge Australian saltwater crocodile named Cassius was awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest crocodile in captivity.¹⁸ He died in 2024 at over 110 years old, possibly closer to 120, and he measured almost 5.5 metres in length and weighed nearly one tonne.¹⁹ A real giant. The largest croc ever recorded though, was a saltwater crocodile from the Philippines called Lolong, which measured a whopping 6.17 metres and weighed 1,075 kilograms. He died in 2013, after being captured in 2011.²⁰

Crocodiles and alligators don’t have a sophisticated palate – they’re indiscriminate and opportunistic, meaning they’ll eat anything that comes their way if they fancy it.²¹

Baby crocodiles eat small insects, crabs, prawns, frogs, tadpoles, molluscs and small fish. Then as they grow older, larger, and hungrier, crocs start eating all sorts of vertebrate animals: monkeys, deer, cattle, zebras, horses, and even prey as large as buffalos.

Most of the feeding happens between dusk and dawn because crocodiles tend to be more active at night. They’re brilliant and stealthy ambush predators: they lie in shallow, murky water and sit and wait patiently, or cruise along the overgrown shoreline quietly, only their eyes visible outside of the water. Then, when prey is in reach, they pounce explosively out of the blue, startling prey and snatching them into the water.

Not all crocodile hunting is mindless, violent pillaging. Some crocodiles have been observed carrying out sophisticated group hunting strategies.²² They’ve been observed swimming around a shoal of fish and tightening the circle to trap the fish into a bait ball or scaring large land mammals off a trail just for other crocs to ambush them inside the water. Other crocodiles even use tools to hunt: American alligators in Louisiana and marsh crocodiles in India attract birds looking to make a nest by adorning their heads with sticks and attacking the birds that get close to grab nest fodder.²³ No other reptiles are known to use tools.

Interestingly, when scientists had crocodiles listen to recordings of baby humans, bonobos and chimpanzees crying, the crocodiles were attracted to the shrieks of distress.²⁴ While the crocs might have wanted to help, the distress calls likely signalled to them there was a vulnerable mammal nearby and a meal waiting to happen.

Surprisingly, research on ancient crocodile teeth has concluded that vegetarianism evolved at least three separate times in ancient crocodiles roaming the planet 200 million years ago.²⁵ The voracious meat eaters we know today used to enjoy the tender flesh of sweet fruit, and fibre-filled grasses.

Despite being huge and fearsome apex predators, since crocodiles are cold-blooded they do not need to eat to fire up their metabolism and warm themselves up, so their weekly intake of food might surprise you.

Large adult saltwater crocodiles eat about 50 meals a year – that’s about one meal a week.²⁶ Data from a crocodile farm in Papa New Guinea growing juvenile crocodiles notes that a 60cm crocodile eats about 26% of its body weight per week, while a 180cm crocodile eats about 11% of its body weight per week.²⁷

Scientists measured the adult bite forces of 23 crocodilian species and found their winners. Saltwater crocodiles have one of the most powerful bites ever recorded: they slam their jaws shut with 3,700 pounds per square inch (psi) of bite force – that’s the weight of a small car, slammed onto their prey in the snap of a finger.²⁸ "If you can bench press a car, you are good to go … If not, you're lunch," says crocodilian researcher Gregory Erickson in the book Bite.²⁹

Still, it’s just a matter of size rather than species. A crocodile, an alligator, and a caiman each weighing 45 kilograms chow down with the same force.³⁰ That means larger crocodiles from the ancient past likely bit even harder, rivalling the ferocious T. rex.

Yet, crocodiles can also be gentle with their powerful snouts. They’re known to pick up and roll unhatched eggs inside their mouths to help baby crocs emerge from their hard shells.

While gharials have  long, narrow swordfish-like snouts with sharp teeth made for cutting and chewing, most other types of crocodiles      have mouths made for grabbing and holding on to thrashing, wailing prey.³¹ That’s why teeth from the top jaw and teeth from the bottom jaw are arranged to fit perfectly with each other when the jaw is clasped: maximum grip.

Depending on the species, crocodiles have between 60 and 110 teeth in their mouth.³² Dwarf crocodiles have 60, and saltwater crocodiles have 66 teeth. Since their hunting can get a little rough, crocodiles have evolved so if they lose their teeth they will regrow them. Their teeth are actually replaced every 20 months or so.

Adult crocodiles are apex predators in the ecosystems they inhabit, meaning they are at the top of the food chain, and seldom can another animal eat them. Their powerful, sharp-toothed bite and their thick, armoured, skin make them one of the most feared predators in the animal world, often only falling prey to  really big cats like tigers or lions. Anacondas and pythons sometimes also try their luck in attacking crocodiles too.

Baby crocodiles, on the other hand, are much more susceptible to being snacked on. Wild pigs, jaguars, leopards, lions, tigers, and predatory birds like eagles and herons can easily take a stab at eating a juvenile crocodile.³³ Crocodile eggs are a staple meal for several animals too.

Crocodiles are formidable swimmers. Most of their swimming happens with their arms and legs close to their body and their tail elegantly swaying from side to side.³⁴ The whole crocodile’s body undulates in the water.

Data on how fast crocodiles can be… is sparse. Some research from aquariums – so not in the wild – suggests that large saltwater crocodiles can swim at a top speed of 24 to 29 kilometres per hour.³⁵ These speeds are reached just in small bursts of swimming, though, as crocodiles don’t tend to embark on long and fast laps around their turf.

Interestingly, scientists have discovered that saltwater crocodiles can’t swim as fast if the water is too hot, around temperatures of 33°C.³⁶

Crocodiles aren’t exactly built for running around on land, because they’ve got short stubby legs and really big bodies.³⁷ While some species can move rather frequently from watering hole to watering hole, others are known to avoid walking long distances as much as possible. Crocs can become exhausted rather quickly while walking or running around on land, because their lactic acid builds up really quickly, so they need to take a lot of breaks.³⁸

When walking with their legs below their body and their tail dragging behind, most crocodiles move at a speed of 2 to 4km/h. Some species of crocodiles go into a full run, though, and gallop over obstacles on land, reaching a speed of up to 18km/h.³⁹

Despite not having any tell-tale signs associated with good climbers – no agile arms, no prehensile hands – yes, crocodiles can climb trees. In 2014, scientists published a collection of records of crocodiles being found basking in the sun on tree branches and up tree trunks too.⁴⁰ They found that crocodiles can climb as high as six feet off the ground, and babies can go up to 30 feet. Records all the way back from 1972 suggest that baby crocodiles “climb into bushes, up trees, and even hang on reeds like chameleons.”⁴¹

Crocodiles are reptiles and breathe through their nose and into their two lungs like mammals do. So they cannot breathe underwater.

But they can spend a long time underwater without having to come up for air. On average they surface every half an hour, but alligators, for instance, can hold their breath for a whole 24 hours by slowing their heart rate to just two or three beats per minute.⁴²

What’s more: crocodiles can carry out strenuous physical activity even if they’re out of air. This is called going into oxygen debt: they can pounce and jump at prey even if they’re out of air without using oxygen.⁴³ This oxygen debt then needs to be repaid with a lot of rest.

“Crying crocodile tears” is a saying that refers to somebody feigning sorrow or pretending to be upset.⁴⁴ It comes from the ancient myth that crocodiles cry after they eat people out of their grief for having killed them, or to trick others into coming near in an attempt to console them.

Crocodiles don’t cry to grieve their prey, but they do cry.

When scientists tested this with four captive caimans and three alligators in a zoo, five of the seven animals teared up as they chomped down on their meal, with some of their eyes even frothing and bubbling.⁴⁵ They release tears from their tear ducts to clean out their eyes.  Scientists think it might also be a physiological response to the strain of hissing and huffing from banqueting on their prey with great force.

Crocodiles are extremely long-lived animals, and they can live for over a century. Most crocodiles are thought to have a life span of about 70 years tops, but that might be just because they die from other causes –not from old age. 

For instance, Cassius, the huge Australian saltwater crocodile that died in 2024 after being one of the largest crocs ever held in captivity, was likely up to 120 years of age.⁴⁶

This is not uncommon for reptiles. Turtles are also known to have really long lifespans. This is called negligible senescence, and it’s when animals grow old so imperceptibly it’s like they could grow old forever. Some pundits think this suggests crocodiles just keep on getting bigger and bigger and bigger till they die from an illness or from starvation, but this is hard to scientifically prove.⁴⁷ Potentially, they could also live forever, as scientists have observed they’re as active and vigorous in their old age as when they were juveniles. Some scholars think there might be something in the crocodile’s gut microbiome that allows for crocodile biology to have a natural anti-aging ability.⁴⁸

Yes, crocodiles sleep – but they don’t go into a full slumber like most mammals or humans do. They sleep with one eye open.⁴⁹ This suggests they are also keeping half of their brain activated, while the other half sleeps, like dolphins and birds are known to do. What’s more, when scientists tested the sleeping habits of young crocodiles in an aquarium lined with infrared cameras, they noticed the crocs were more likely to keep an eye open when a human was in the room – and they kept their vision fixed right on them.⁵⁰

Most of their napping is done on land, but crocodiles can sleep in water too, as long as their eyes and nose are not submerged.

Yes, crocodiles – like most reptiles – lay eggs.

Mating is a rather simple and rapid endeavour. Couples court with a series of snuggles, gentle rubs, and snout caresses, then they take to the water to get down to business, with the male lying on the female’s back.⁵¹

Then, crocodile mothers dig holes for their eggs or hide them under mounds of dirt, sand, and vegetation. Different species get ready to nest at slightly different times. In some species, all of the crocodiles and alligators nest at the same time within a week.⁵² In saltwater crocodiles, on the other hand, the nesting season can last up to six months.

On a single night, over the course of less than an hour, the mother crocodile will lay her eggs – clutches varying from 205 to 0 eggs, depending on the species.⁵³ Then, some species will then stay to defend and protect their nest, like the American alligators, while others will leave the eggs to fend for themselves, like freshwater crocodiles. Mugger crocodiles dig themselves a temporary home right next to their nest.

As with turtles, the sex of the baby crocodiles depends on the temperature during incubation.⁵⁴ Incubation at less than 30°C gives exclusively females, around 31°C gives both sexes, and between 32 and 33°C gives mostly males.

After about three months, once the babies are ready to hatch, they use their one sharp egg tooth to slice into the eggshell and crack themselves out of their shelter.⁵⁵ Some mothers may help the hatchlings come out of the eggs by rolling them around in their mouths. The hatchlings then stay with their mother for a couple of months.

Crocodiles, like lizards, are also capable of parthenogenesis – basically virgin births. The first officially recorded case was in 2018, when a female crocodile in a zoo in Costa Rica laid a clutch of eggs after living alone for 16 years.⁵⁶

There's a famous Italian children’s rhyme that revolves around an open-ended, constantly unanswered question: “So what sound does a crocodile make?” 

Crocodile researcher Sonnie Flores is on a quest to find out. For now, her team has identified 13 categories of crocodile sounds, including roars, hisses, coughs, bellows and growls, as well as bubble blowing, water spewing with their noses, and back vibrations.⁵⁷ The researchers think crocodiles are capable of also making sounds so low that they’re inaudible to humans, but they can travel through water like whale calls.

A different team of scientists was listening back to recordings from the riverbeds of West Africa when they discovered that African dwarf crocodiles moo, like cows.⁵⁸ Scientists don’t know much else about how they ended up with this vocal ability.

Despite several communities around the world having strong and positive cultural beliefs about crocodiles, human-crocodile conflict is a pressing issue for many.⁵⁹

Crocodiles can damage fishing gear, cause families to lose income, undermine aquaculture and fishing attempts, or cause structural damage to roads, dams and homes. Surveys in northeastern Namibia suggest about 6,800 cattle animals are killed by crocodiles per year, and an estimated 71,500 fishing nets are damaged by crocodiles per year.⁶⁰ Fisherfolk or farmers may accidentally encroach on crocodile territory, as can livestock or pets.⁶¹ Unfortunately, many unplanned encounters with crocodiles can end in tragedy. Crocodiles are known to kill about 1,000 people each year, and scientists keep databases of fatal and non-fatal crocodile attacks.⁶²

This can cause a lot of stress for communities of people living in close proximity with crocs, and experts are constantly drafting new policies and experimenting with new methods to peacefully coexist with the majestic predators.

In Australia in late 2023, a fisherman freed himself from a crocodile attack near his local river by accidentally biting the crocodile’s eyelid.⁶³

In the past, the main threat to crocodile conservation was poaching and hunting for crocodile skin and leather.⁶⁴ Poaching and hunting of crocs for bush meat is still happening, but today, habitat destruction and degradation are the most salient risks to the survival of crocs and reptiles around the world.

While 14 crocodile species are doing well and have no risk of extinction, for now,  the rest range from vulnerable to critically endangered.⁶⁵ The famous saltwater crocodile and Nile crocodile are of least concern to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), for instance. But Cuban crocodiles, which are only found on the island of Cuba, and Orinoco crocodiles which can only be found in river basins in Venezuela and Colombia are some of the most endangered species of crocodile.⁶⁶

In 2024, 60 baby Siamese crocodiles were born in the wild – the largest population born of this species in the last 100 years, after the crocs were listed as virtually extinct in the wild in 1992.⁶⁷ A small, remote population of these crocs was also discovered in the mountains of Cambodia in 2000. 

Quick Facts:

1. https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/weird-animal-collective-nouns

2. https://www.crocodilesoftheworld.co.uk/conservation/conservation-status/

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