17 June: World Crocodile Day

Today is World Crocodile Day. Here are 10 things you might not know about crocodiles.

1. The word crocodile comes from the ancient Greek for “the lizard of the Nile.”
2. There are 16 living species of crocodile. They are the largest reptiles on the planet. The smallest is the dwarf crocodile which can grow to an adult size of 1.5 to 1.9m (4.9 to 6.2 ft), and the largest is the saltwater crocodile which can reach 23 feet/7 metres in length. In prehistoric times they were even bigger. Sarcosuchus imperator was arguably the biggest prehistoric crocodile ever lived – they could grow to a size of 11‭ ‬-‭ ‬12 ‬meters / 36 – 40 ft and weigh up to 8 tonnes. Or it might have been Purussaurus brasilensis, which it is estimated would have grown to a similar size.
3. A newly hatched crocodile is about 20cm/8 inches long. They make noises from inside their eggs before they hatch, which their mother will hear. She digs up the hatchlings and carries them to the water in her mouth.
4. The sex of a baby crocodile depends on the temperature of the nest where the eggs are laid. A nest of less than 32 degrees Celsius produces females and higher temperatures produce males.
5. They are classified as reptiles but are more closely related to Dinosaurs and birds than they are to other reptiles.
6. They have valves at the back of their throats to allow them to open their jaws underwater.
7. The phrase “crocodile tears” means a false display of grief. It derives from a myth that crocodiles shed tears to lure their prey and cry for their victims as they eat them. While this may not be true, crocodiles really do produce tears as they eat, but it’s nothing to do with emotion. When they eat they swallow air which forces tears from their lachrymal glands.
8. They don’t chew their food. Their jaws cannot move sideways, so they have to eat their food whole. Hence they swallow stones to help them digest their meals. Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal on earth. They can exert over 2000 kilos of force and clamp their jaws shut 6 times faster than you can blink. At the same time, their jaws are extremely sensitive – ten times more so than a human fingertip. This helps them detect prey up to 20 metres away.
9. They have the most sophisticated Hearts of any animal, too. They have an extra aorta so they can control the Blood flow in their bodies. When they are underwater, there’s no point in pumping blood to the lungs, since there will be no new Oxygen in them. Oxygenated blood flows to vital organs like the brain but when it flows back to the heart, it bypasses the lungs and is circulated to less important areas. Hence a crocodile can stay submerged for up to an hour. When the crocodile has eaten, it can direct deoxygenated, carbon dioxide rich blood to its stomach, enabling it to produce one of the most acidic gastric juices in nature, 10 times faster than any other animal.
10. They have a layer of crystals behind the retina of their eyes which reflects and magnifies light from the Moon and stars, enabling them to see well at night and hunt in the dark. There’s a down side to this, however, as it makes their eyes shine, so predators can spot them. Not a problem perhaps for a fully grown crocodile, but a baby one is vulnerable. This may be one reason why 99% of baby crocs get eaten.

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