Crocodiles: Saltwater crocodiles are the most important reptiles on Earth, and the first crocodiles appeared more than 240 million years ago during the Mesozoic Period. Crocodiles used to be at the top of the food chain. They used to live up to 80 years old and could grow to be anywhere from three to seven metres long.
They are sure to be alive.
After almost dying out, Saltwater crocodiles were almost hunted to extinction over the last hundred years. But by 1971, they had to be a protected species, which led to their numbers growing a lot. At the moment, it is thought that there are about 150,000 salties roaming the “Top End” (north Australia).
Today, they are also a big deal for Steve Irwin’s Natural Life Warriors, and you can see them up close at Australia Zoo.
They live in the murky waters of Australia.
Even though they spend most of their time in freshwater rivers and swamps, during the season they move to estuaries and sometimes even the open ocean. Living in the dark waters, it’s often hard to tell what they’re going to do until it’s too late. When they say this, they can get their bodies moving in the conversation by jumping out of the water, and the deeper the water, the more force they get.
They can’t make their own heat or sweat to keep from getting too hot.
Crocodiles are cold-blooded, like most reptiles. They can’t make their own heat, so when it gets colder, they sleep or stop moving. They like warm, tropical climates and live there, but they can’t sweat, so to cool off, they sit with their mouths open on the bank of a stream. Their mouths make them sweat.
They can easily break your bones with their jaws.
A person’s jaw can hold up to 100 pounds of pressure per square inch, while a crocodile’s jaw can hold up to 5,000 pounds of pressure per square inch. Even though they are so heavy, they need a very small “opening strength.” This means that you can very effectively close a crocodile’s mouth with elastic groups.
It gives them the ability to eat warm-blooded animals, birds, and fish. However, they are not picky eaters and will eat anything, even a one-ton water ox. Even though they are known to attack people, they are only supposed to kill one person a year.
They can swim fast, but they can’t eat underwater.
Even though they have huge jaws that can crush their prey, they can’t eat it while it’s underwater. They have valves in their mouths that keep water from going down their throats. This lets them open their mouths underwater without drowning, which means they need to go to the surface of the water or back to land.
People know them for their dangerous “Death Roll.”
Their most deadly attack is known to be the death roll, which is “designed to throw big prey off balance, making it easy to pull them into the water.” Usually, they will watch their prey from the water, then sneak up on it and drag it into the water.
When an animal fights back or if it’s going to be a much bigger prey, they roll their bodies under the water. This confuses the prey and makes it easier for the shark to eat.
