World's most Dangerous Crocodile

World's most Dangerous Crocodile

The larger species of crocodiles are very dangerous to humans. The main danger that crocodiles pose is not their ability to run after a person but their ability to strike before the person can react. The Saltwater and Nile Crocodiles are the most dangerous, killing hundreds of people each year in parts of south-east Asia and Africa. Mugger crocodiles and possibly the endangered Black Caiman are also very dangerous to humans. American alligators are less aggressive and rarely assault humans without provocation.



1. Saltwater Crocodile

The saltwater crocodile has a longer muzzle than the mugger crocodile, and is twice the length of its breadth at the base. The saltwater crocodile has fewer armor plates on its neck than other crocodilians, and its broad body contrasts with that of most other lean crocodiles, leading to early unverified assumptions that the reptile was an alligator.

2. American Alligator

The American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, (known colloquially as a ‘gator) is one of the two living species of Alligator, a genus within the family Alligatoridae. The American Alligator is native only to the Southeastern United States, where it inhabits wetlands that frequently overlap with human-populated areas. It is larger than the other extant alligator species, the Chinese Alligator. 

3. Chinese Alligator

The Chinese Alligator or Alligator is one of two known living species of Alligator, a genus in the family Alligatoridae. The Chinese Alligator is native only to China. It is smaller than the other alligator species, the American Alligator, growing to an average of 1.5 m (5 ft).

4. Spectacled Caiman

The spectacled (White or common) caiman (Caiman crocodilus) is a crocodilian reptile found in much of Central and South America. It lives in a range of lowland wetland and river line habitat types and can tolerate salt water as well as fresh; due in part to this adaptability it is the most common of all crocodilian species. Males of the species are generally between 2 and 2.5 meters, while females are smaller, usually around 1.4 meters. The species common name comes from a bony ridge between the eyes, which give the appearance of a pair of spectacles

5. Broad-snouted caiman

The broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) is a crocodilian reptile found in eastern and central South America, including southeastern Brazil, northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. It is found mostly in freshwater marshes, swamps, and mangroves. Its notable physical characteristic is its broad snout from which its name is derived. Most tend to be of an olive-green color, with exceptions occurring as adaptations to varying climates. Its diet consists mainly of small invertebrates, and it can crush shells to feed on turtles and snails. The species is threatened due to illegal hunting and loss of habitat. 

6. Yacare Caiman

The Yacare Caiman (Caiman yacare, Jacare in Portuguese) is a species of caiman found in central South America, including northeastern Argentina, eastern Bolivia, central/south-west Brazil, and the rivers of Paraguay. Approximately 10 million individual Yacare Caiman exist within the Brazilian Pantanal, representing what is quite possibly the largest single crocodilian population on Earth. As a medium-small sized crocodilian, most adult individuals grow to roughly 2 or 2.5 meters in length, with the occasional 3 meter individual (there are reports of occasional 4 meter individuals within the Pantanal, but this is yet to be verified.) Their smaller size makes them a favorite prey of the jaguar and Yellow Anaconda. 

7. Black Caiman

The black caiman has a bony ridge over red eyes, and black, scaly skin. The skin coloration helps with camouflage during its nocturnal hunts, but may also help absorb heat (See thermoregulation).

8. Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman

The Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman or Musky Caiman, Paleosuchus palpebrosus, is a relatively small crocodilian reptile from northern and central South America. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam and Venezuela. It lives primarily near fast stretches of stream, but also in nutrient-deficient waters.
With a total length of up to 1.6 m (5.2 ft) in males and typically up to 1.2m (4 ft) in females, it is the smallest extant species of crocodilian. Juvenile dwarf caimans eat invertebrates, while adult caimans eat both fish and invertebrates. It uses burrows as shelter during the day, and lays eggs on a mounded nest which hatch in about three months. 

9. Orinoco Crocodile

The Orinoco Crocodile, Crocodylus intermedius, is a critically endangered crocodile found in freshwater in northern South America, in particular the Orinoco River. Typical measurements for adults range from 3 to 4.8 m (9.9-16 ft). Typical weight for mature females is 200 kg (440 lbs) and 380 kg (837 lbs) for males. The largest specimen reported was shot in 1800 and allegedly measured 6.6 m (22 ft), although this is unconfirmed and modern Orinoco Crocodiles are not thought to exceed 5 m 

10. Nile crocodiles

There are fairly reliable records of Nile crocodiles over 5.5m (18ft), but these too are very rare.

11. Freshwater Crocodile

The freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus johnsoni or Crocodylus johnstoni; see below), also known as the Australian freshwater crocodile, Johnston’s crocodile or colloquially as freshie, is a species of reptile endemic to Australia. Found in the northern regions of Australia, it is much smaller than the other Australian species, the saltwater crocodile, which is responsible for attacks on people

12.  Gharial

The gharial sometimes called the Indian gavial or gavial, is one of two surviving members of the family Gavialidae, a long-established group of crocodile-like reptiles with long, narrow jaws. It is one of the three crocodilians found in India, the others being the Mugger crocodile and the Saltwater crocodile. It is a critically endangered species. The gharial is one of the longest of all living crocodilians.

13. False gharial

The False gharial, also known as the Malayan gharial, false gavial, or Tomistoma (Tomistoma schlegelii) is a fresh-water reptile resembling a crocodile with a very thin and elongated snout, which is thicker than the gharial.

The most deaths in a single crocodile attack incident may have occurred during the Battle of Ramree Island, on February 19, 1945, in Burma. Nine hundred soldiers of an Imperial Japanese Army unit, in an attempt to retreat from the Royal Navy and rejoin a larger battalion of the Japanese infantry, crossed through 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) of mangrove swamps which contained Saltwater Crocodiles. Twenty Japanese soldiers were captured alive by the British, and almost five hundred are known to have escaped Ramree. Many of the remainder may have been eaten by the crocodiles, although gunfire from the British troops was undoubtedly a contributory factor.

                                                                               Source: Wikipedia