Which crocodile is the largest

Snake afficionados may argue that there are longer snakes, but none combine both length over 6 metres and body mass well over 1, kg to reach such large overall sizes like the saltwater crocodile can. But there are many arguments, conflicting evidence, tantalising skulls and romantic stories surrounding giant crocs How fast do they grow? Hatchling saltwater crocodiles, like the one on the left, emerge from the egg at around 25 to 30cm 1 foot in length.

They can easily sit on the lens of a camera, weighing only 70 grams 2. However, they grow rapidly and often exceed 1 m 3. The first 10 years of life are accompanied by rapid growth, by which time males are usually at least 3 metres 9. Growth slows after reaching sexual maturity around 10 to 15 years , but typically continues for most of the animal's life at least 60 to 70 years.

Burt, in the photograph above, is a captive crocodile in Darwin, Australia. He's over 16 feet 4. There are quite a few crocodiles, however, which are definitely above average. Gomek, in the frame to the right, is a sobering comparison between a decidedly above average crocodile and man. To date, the largest crocodile in captivity is "Yai", who is listed in the Guinness Book of Records at 19 feet and 8 inches 6.

Today he's just over 20 feet. Remarkably, Yai was only 30 years old at the time, and at over 1, kg he was rather large for his age! Today he's even heavier, though his growth has slowed down dramatically. Yai's growth rate is typical of captive crocodiles kept in optimum conditions with plenty of food. Yai is also a hybrid between C. There are other zoos that claim to have the largest crocodile in the world, but claims are nothing without accurate measurements, and Yai has certainly been verified.

Augustine Alligator Farm in Florida. George also captured an even larger crocodile, Oscar, who currently lives on Green Island in Queensland where George Craig now lives.

After many years, Gomek unfortunately died of heart disease in February By this stage, he was a very old crocodile. In this photograph, Gomek is fed nutria a large rodent by his keeper, and his size is obvious.

When he died, he was The DCL of this crocodile was mm While not a complete or living specimen, this is still considered the largest saltwater crocodile C. Update December 26, As far as I know, Lolong is the largest crocodile ever measured and Mr.

Britton himself measured it. So, I asked him via Twitter what did he mean by that. Its original owner was estimated to be 7 m 23 ft long, a HL:TL ratio of The largest known saltwater crocodile C. It has a DCL dorsal cranial length of mm Although the actual TL was never preserved, these figures strongly suggest a nearly 7 m almost 23 ft crocodile.

Applying the ratio to the Bhitarkanika skull gives an estimated TL of 6. The truth is unlikely to be far from these figures and there is a strong sense that 7 m 23 ft is likely the maximum possible length for C.

It seems the Guinness World Record book has accepted a claim that a 23 ft 7. I am skeptical about this claim, while it is much larger than any other accurately reported measurement. However, this was not a measurement but a size estimate taken from a boat and regardless of the skill of the observers it cannot be compared to a verified tape measurement, especially considering the uncertainty inherent in visual size estimation in the wild Bayliss While it seems likely that an exceptionally large crocodile was shot, no actual evidence was ever taken.

For a crocodile whose length exceeds that of any other record by a large margin, a high degree of skepticism is understandable when bearing in mind the track record of inaccurate or exaggerated size records Greer ; Whitaker and Whitaker According to a story, a giant crocodile was shot in July near Normanton, Queensland, Australia.

It was nicknamed Krys after the person who shot it. It was claimed at 28 foot 4 inches 8. There is also a life-size replica of it at Normanton. The claimed size of Krys is highly suspicious because it is much larger than any other accurately reported measurements. It is a large male Nile crocodile from Burundi, and is rumored to have killed as many as humans from the banks of the Ruzizi River and the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika!

Note: I am really skeptical about this claim. Gustave was named by Patrice Faye , a herpetologist who has been studying and investigating him since the late s; much of what is known about Gustave stems from the film Capturing the Killer Croc, which aired in on PBS. The film documents a capture attempt and study on Gustave. Since Gustave has not been captured, his exact length and weight are unknown.

If true, this makes Gustave the largest freshwater crocodile and also the biggest Nile crocodile in the world. But, please note that the estimated size of Gustave is way higher than the average size of a Nile crocodile which is 4. So, take these size estimations with a pinch of salt.

Some estimates have put Gustave at 7. When first observed, he was estimated to be around years old in order to achieve such outstanding size; however, Gustave revealed a complete set of teeth when he opened his mouth.

Gustave is also known for the three bullet scars on his body. His right shoulder blade was also found to be deeply wounded. Circumstances surrounding the four scars are unknown. Also, it was stated in his documentary film that since crocodiles can go several months without eating, one the size of Gustave could afford to select his prey carefully.

The last reported sighting of Gustave was in February by National Geographic sources. According to Wikipedia, in June , one resident claimed that Gustave dragged an adult bull buffalo on a riverbank. Previously, Utan was on my top ten largest crocodiles list, but I removed it. Adam Britton wrote on his blog that :.

Like Yai, Utan is also a hybrid breed between saltwater and Siamese crocodile. He was born in Utan is found at Samut Prakan crocodile farm, which is about twelve miles outside of Bangkok, Thailand. Sweetheart was a huge saltwater crocodile responsible for a series of attacks on boats in Australia between and In July , it was caught alive by a team from the Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission, but, unfortunately, drowned while being transported when he became tangled with a log.

A Australian independent horror film named Rogue, about a group of tourists in Australia who fall prey to a giant, man-eating crocodile, was inspired by the story of Sweetheart. But, in fact, Sweetheart was never responsible for an attack on a human. Originally spotted measuring only 2. Today, it is 40 years old. Living in Darwin, Australia, Smaug is a 5-meter long Here is a photo of Smaug the crocodile.

Smaug does not need a reason. Lapu-lapu is a large saltwater crocodile captured in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, Philippines. It is 4. He weighs anywhere from to kilograms. The saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus is the biggest of all living crocodilians.

Average-size males reach 17 feet 5. Click to see what was the largest prehistoric crocodile. Related: Largest prehistoric crocodiles. Click to see what is the largest alligator ever measured , and the differences between the crocodiles and the alligators. Lolz, that Brutus reminds me of crocodile movies. Some teens would wander and they get eaten one by one.

In northern Australia there is a lot of unexplored country and few people live or ever go there…and I remember reading that saltwater crocs get to around 30 feet up there. After seeing this article, I definitely can believe it. Lol seriously..!! The largest crocodile in the world, a 7m 23 footer is also found here. Thanks for the comment! But how many meters are they actually? Who measured them and when? Most importantly, where are the photos? The reference link on their wikipedia page marked as [1] is broken.

So, where is the evidence? It is interesting that the Guinness World Records Book is putting this info on their page with such little evidence. Not related to the topic but their website is ultra-backward, which is a shame, since India has thousands of excellent programmers and designers.

Hey there, really enjoyed this article. I loved crocodiles since I was young. Check it out, it has a great backstory. I asked if they could show me.. OK, I looked it up. The article quotes the length at 8. Records have been won and lost with less. I have seen UTAN, but it was sad at the time he was old and sick!

It seemed as if he was very well taken care of though! But Oh MAN!!!! Looks like Gomek formerly of St. I saw him myself when I was a kid. Absolute monster. Every now and then I think of him and search giant crocs. Thanks for the warning! Normally I do this every time, somehow I skipped it in this post. Sarcosuchus was bigger, and has had a stronger bite. But I think it would be an open field. What do you think? Yes, it was the photoshopped one.

I changed the photo with the original one. The photo is provided by adelaiderivercruises. Real photo. I live in The territory. In fact this is inacurrate as he shares the same span of river Adelaide river with a croc Nick named domintor. They in fact have the odd fight. Hi, thanks for the comment. Yes, the current photo is real. I was using my mistake a photoshopped photo here previously, taken from dailymail. You can see the fake photo here. The 2nd photo is photoshopped at this link.

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