25 Fascinating Facts About Crocodiles

25 Fascinating Facts About Crocodiles

Crocodiles are one of the most interesting animals alive, one because they are carnivorous and secondly because they are reptilian. Given the nature of reptiles, crocodiles, and alligators are a bit unique because of how large they are. Moreover, they are considered semiaquatic reptiles that live all over Africa, Asia, America, and Australia. As semiaquatic animals, they typically tend to congregate in habitats like rivers, lakes, wetlands, and sometimes brackish water and saltwater. They feed on mostly vertebrates like fish, other reptiles and birds, and also mammals. It is one of the deadliest animals in the ecosystem.

These are some of the fascinating facts about crocodiles.

1. As much as they are carnivorous, they enjoy eating fruits

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As noted earlier, crocodiles are carnivores in the most typical sense of the word. They feed on other animals and that’s just part of their ecosystem. However, a 2013 study concluded that “there is little doubt that on occasion, fruit is deliberately consumed, often in large quantities.” This means that even crocodiles are not an exception and once in a while they may want a bit of fruit. Call it a little bit of balancing their diet.

2. Crocodiles can go through 4,000 teeth in their lifetime

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Imagine that! Having to have gone through 4,000 teeth by the time your time on earth is done. What’s even more impressive is that typically, crocodiles have 60 to 110 teeth. But when a crocodile loses a tooth, there’s usually a small replacement that is just there on standby waiting for such an occurrence. With that said, they are able to replace each of their 80 teeth up to 50 times. If this was possible in humans, dentists would for sure be out of business. Pretty impressive and unique to be honest.

3. Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal in the world

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The jaw of a crocodile can apply up to 5,000 pounds of pressure per square. Compared to that of a human being which only produces 100 pounds of pressure per square inch, this is a massive strength that a crocodile’s jaws has.  In fact, a crocodile’s bite is ten times more powerful than that of a great white shark. Very impressive indeed.

4. Ironically, they have weak jaw-opening muscles

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As much as we are saying crocodiles have the strongest bite and thousands of teeth, ironically their jaws are pretty weak. This jaw can even be held shut with just a rubber band or your bare hands if you are brave enough. Thus, the strongest animal with the strongest bite in the world has a very weak jaw opening muscle. Pretty ironic, huh?

5. When a crocodile closes its mouth, all teeth are visible

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One of the easiest ways to tell the difference between crocodiles and alligators (because this is quite hard sometimes), is that when a crocodile closes its mouth, all its teeth are usually visible. This is because its upper and lower jaw are of the same width. An alligator on the hand, has small depressions in the upper jaw for the lower teeth. This simply means that they are not visible when their mouth is shut.

6. Crocodiles have a more pointed and v-shaped snout

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In general terms, crocodiles are a bit more aggressive and larger and stronger, compared to their cousins, alligators. Another way to tell the difference is how alligators have a wider, U-shaped snout but the crocodiles, it is more pointed and v-shaped. This shape is what allows it to grip its prey more firmly and hence being the strongest and most aggressive semiaquatic animal.

7. The longest crocodile to be captured weighed 1,075 kg and was 6.17 meters long

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When it comes to crocodiles, wonders never cease. They keep surprising you the more you learn about them. One such surprising fact is how the longest crocodile to ever be captured alive was 6.17 meters long; that is about 20 feet long and weighed about 1,075 kg. When you think about it, that is such a heavy and huge animal. This happened in the Philippines and the National Geographic is the team that succeeded in this endeavor. The crocodile was named ‘Lolong.’ He was a saltwater crocodile and the largest in every sense of the word.

8. Crocodiles don’t sweat

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Very mind-blowing, right? One fun fact about crocodiles is that they don’t sweat. That would be an amazing feeling for us, right? That wouldn’t be healthy though. Anyway, because crocodiles don’t sweat, in order to keep their bodies cool especially when it is very hot, they open their mouths. This is known as mouth gaping and it is something similar to panting in human beings. Thus when you see them with their mouths open, it’s not a display of aggression. They can even sleep with their mouths open just to release that heat now that they cannot sweat.

9. They are extremely fast in water

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Another interesting and fascinating fact about crocodiles is that they are extremely fast in water. They swim up to speeds of 35 kilometers per hour. Compared to a small car, this is very fast because as they are always limited to 18 kilometers per hour. To move this fast, they usually use their very powerful tails to propel themselves through water and their feet as rudders to help them steer forward.

10. They are not so fast on land contrary to common belief

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The factual thing about crocodiles is that they tire very easily on land and that is why they prefer to stay in water. A common myth is that crocodiles can run fast on land. They can belly run up to 17 kilometers per hour for short distances but compared to their movement in water, they’re faster there. Thus, they only come ashore most of the time just to bask in the sun and lay their eggs.

11. Crocodiles can hold their breath underwater for more than an hour

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This is very impressive because the longest a human being has ever been able to hold their breath underwater was 24 minutes. Crocodiles, however, can easily do this for more than an hour. Researchers have determined that this is possible because of a tiny fragment in their hemoglobin. A protein that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

12. They swallow small stones in order to improve digestion.

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Believe it or not, crocodiles purposefully swallow small stones in order to help in their digestion. These stones, scientifically known as gastroliths, are beneficial for crocodiles as they help them in grinding up the food on their stomachs. Especially when they eat their prey whole, or those with shells and bones, then it is important that they be able to digest them otherwise, they can easily die. Fun fact: A gastrolith can remain inside the stomach for years even.

13. Crocodiles shed tears while eating their prey!

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Crazy, I know. Remember how people usually use the expression, “crocodile tears” when trying to show that someone is insincere and they are displaying false emotions? There is actually a reason for that. When feeding and eating their prey, crocodiles shed tears. Although this was originally an ancient belief, research, and studies have shown that crocodiles’ eyes tend to water while they eat. Don’t get it wrong though. It is not because of remorse and purely for biological reasons due to the hisses and huffs while feeding.

14. They have very acute senses

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A very evolutionary advantage crocodiles have is that they have very acute and sharp senses. This is what makes them highly successful predators. They are mainly nocturnal, meaning they are active at night. In any case, they have excellent night vision, and their sense of smell and hearing is also extremely well developed.

15. They cannibalize smaller crocodiles

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Crocodiles have been known to occasionally cannibalize smaller crocodiles. It could be the predatory spirit in them, but there have been recorded cases of the larger crocodiles eating smaller ones or younger ones and where some crocodiles bite off the limbs of other crocodiles just by instinct.

16. Crocodiles are also opportunistic predators

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Crocodiles are quite good at ambushing their predators. They are capable of preying upon large mammals like smaller elephants, hippos, sharks, and even big cats. Some of them, like freshwater crocodiles, will prey mostly on fish while saltwater or Nile crocodiles will prey on bigger animals like buffalos, zebra, deer, and wild boar. Crocodiles are the kind of animals that will wait for their prey to come to where they are and then attack. It is almost like all their prey had it coming.

17. They have the most acidic stomachs of all vertebrates

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Among all the vertebrates, crocodiles have the most acidic stomachs. This is essential because the acidity helps them to dissolve and digest hooves, bones, horns, or even shells from their prey. Remember they usually prey on any kind of animal as long as they can.

18. Crocodiles perform what is called a ‘death roll,’ in order to overcome their prey

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In an attempt to overcome their prey, crocodiles do what is called a ‘death roll’ so as to easily overcome their prey. They clamp down on their prey using their jaws and spin around powerfully in order to pin them and overcome them easily. This spinning motion usually disorients the prey, drag them easily under water and easily separates limbs from their bodies in order to easily ingest them.

19. They have a unique way of communicating.

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Crocodiles actually vocalize in order to communicate efficiently. The younger ones especially (for some species though), squeak and grunt while the adult ones growl, hiss, and roar at each other. Many of the crocodile species also respond to other noises like gunshots, engine noise, or even people mimicking crocodiles. Among themselves, they communicate their needs and react to the noises in their environment.

20. They can also sleep with one eye open.

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Crocodiles can be able to sleep with one eye wide open and the only other animals that can do the same are some other reptiles, birds, and dolphins. It is not clear exactly why they do that but speculations are that it is one of their many defense mechanisms. Such that even when asleep, they can still be able to locate anything they deem as a threat.

21. Large crocodiles can go for over a year without eating

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Another very fascinating fact about crocodiles is that the large ones can go for over a year without having any meals. This is because their metabolism is very efficient and can be able to store nearly the entirety of the food they consume. In very extreme circumstances, they are able to shut down and survive off their own tissue for a long period of time.

22. They are estimated to kill about 1,000 humans per year

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Reports have shown that annually, crocodile attacks occur in hundreds, especially in Africa. This often occurs in small communities where they are not so widely reported. That is why by the time reports are being made, the death toll has risen.

23. Crocodiles and dinosaurs are related.

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As much as they are more reptilian, crocodiles are more closely related to dinosaurs and birds than any other reptiles. It is reported that the first crocodile-like organism to even appear on Earth was about 240 million years ago. This basically means that they existed around the same time as dinosaurs. The first ones were around three feet in length and walked on two feet. They did not evolve into their modern form until much later.

24. Baby crocodiles make noises inside their eggs before hatching

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Young crocodiles just before hatching, usually signal to their mom when they are ready to come out. Their mother will typically hear the baby’s tiny noises coming from the eggshell which is usually covered in sand. When the mother hears the noise, she removes the eggs from the sand and protects the babies until they are born. She then brings them to the river so that they can feed on insects.

25. Temperature surrounding the eggs determines the gender of the baby

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Did you know that the temperatures surrounding the eggs actually determine the gender of the baby crocodiles? For instance, the eggs of a male crocodile hatch at a temperature of 90 degrees. If the temperature is higher or lower than this temperature, a female crocodile will most likely hatch.

Crocodiles are interesting and somewhat ambitious. Their way of surviving can even be called calculated and very smart. That’s what makes them an interesting specie.