|
Nile Crocodile
|
- Order: Crocodylia (alligators, crocodiles, etc)
- Family: Crocodylidae (crocodiles and
false gavials)
- Subfamily: Crocodylinae (crocodiles)
- Genus: Crocodylus (crocodiles)
|
|
Scientific Name: Crocodylus
niloticus |
| Habitat: Various types
of bodies of water. |
kroko="pebble," deilos="worm
(or man)," niloticus="of the Nile
River"
|
| Length: Typically up
to roughly 16 feet, reports exist of specimens over 20 feet long. |
|
| Food: Primarily fish
and small animals, but capable of bringing down large mammals
including man. |
Range:
Sub-Saharan Africa; Madagascar. |
|
I observed this crocodile on a fairly cool (about
60 degrees Fahrenheit) day. I estimate the length at 10-12
feet. Initially it was swimming across on open area of the
waterhole, but later turned and headed for the shoreline, where it
apparently snacked on a fish (couldn't tell if the crocodile
caught it or happened upon a dead one). The picture is a
still from my video camera, captured at the moment the croc threw
a small piece of fish into the air and gulped it down. The
piece of fish appears as an oblong dark shape between the croc's
jaws. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
