freshwater crocodile

freshwater crocodile, (Crocodylus johnsoni), moderately large species of crocodile inhabiting inland swamps, rivers, and other tropical freshwater environments in the northern parts of Queensland, Western Australia, and Australia’s Northern Territory. The species is distinguished from other crocodiles by its gray-to-brown coloration and its narrow V-shaped snout. Freshwater crocodiles are also among the fastest crocodiles on land, with a running speed of 17 km (10.6 miles) per hour.

Compared with Australia’s estuarine, or saltwater, crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)—which is larger and more aggressive and lives in saltwater and brackish waters in tropical coastal areas—the freshwater crocodile (C. johnsoni) is relatively shy, preferring to avoid encounters with people. When cornered or surprised, however, a freshwater crocodile will likely warn its attacker by growling and displaying its teeth, along with puffing up and vibrating its body to create ripples in the water, before delivering its powerful bite.

Natural history

The freshwater crocodile’s maximum length and weight extend up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) and 70 kg (about 154 pounds), respectively, though there are reports of some individuals weighing more than 100 kg (220.5 pounds). Most males are between 2.1 and 3 meters (6.9–9.8 feet) long, and as a group adult male freshwater crocodiles are slightly longer and heavier than adult females. The scales on the top and sides of the body are colored with brownish tones rather than green or black, and the crocodile’s underside is somewhat lighter colored. Prominent dark bands extend down its body and tail. Its jaws contain between 68 and 72 teeth, and the teeth are often visible even when the animal’s mouth is closed.

These crocodiles are nocturnal hunters that typically ambush prey in the water, although larger adults have been observed hunting on land. Their diet is made up of fish and invertebrates (including insects), as well as birds, small mammals (including wallabies), amphibians, and even freshwater crocodile hatchlings (see cannibalism, animal). Eggs and young freshwater crocodiles are prey for monitor lizards, birds of prey, fishes, pythons, larger crocodiles, dingoes, feral dogs and feral pigs. Adults, in turn, may fall victim to larger crocodiles as well as to their own appetites; freshwater crocodiles can become poisoned by ingesting cane toads (Rhinella marina, an invasive species introduced to Australia in the 1930s from the Americas to control beetles on sugarcane). Like other crocodile species, they spend most of the day in the sun, which raises their metabolism, allowing them to move and hunt at night with greater ease. During the dry season, in areas where water supplies dry up, freshwater crocodiles shelter in burrows dug into sandy riverbanks and enter a period of dormancy until conditions improve.

Freshwater crocodiles are polygynous (that is, a single male mates with several females in one season). For sexually reproducing individuals, the mating takes place during the middle of the dry season (which lasts from April until October). Some three to six weeks after mating, a female freshwater crocodile deposits a clutch of 4 to 20 eggs in a prepared nest chamber burrowed into the sand of a riverbank. She will not guard the nest, so the eggs are incubated by environmental conditions only. The sex of the young is determined by the incubation temperature. More females than males are produced if average temperatures are either higher or lower than about 32 °C (89.6 °F). Hatching occurs between two and three months later. Female crocodiles do provide some parental care, which begins with helping to free newly hatched young from the sand and transporting them to the water. Researchers note that females will continue to guard their young for a short time before her young disperse.

Both sexes take more than a decade to reach sexual maturity, with several sources reporting that females become sexually mature between ages 11 and 14 and males between ages 16 and 17. The life span of the freshwater crocodile ranges from 20 years in captivity to 50 years or more in the wild.

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Conservation status

The freshwater crocodile is not a threatened species due to its large population and vast geographic range. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classifies it as a species of least concern. Despite the health of this species, ecologists have noted that there are fewer crocodiles of intermediate size in the population since the introduction and establishment of cane toads, which some crocodiles consume. In addition, the presence of cane toads has also reduced monitor lizard populations, which has had the effect of reducing egg loss. Still, the species may be affected by habitat loss stemming from the development of agricultural irrigation projects and an expected increase in competition with saltwater crocodiles in the future.