The largest crocodile lived in the Philippines

Before deciding which crocodile is the largest, let's determine which animals we call crocodiles. A detachment of crocodiles consists of two families - real crocodiles and alligators. The latter are not crocodiles in the zoological classification accepted throughout the world, but in appearance, way of life and habits, they are the real crocodiles. In other words, de jure is alligators, and de facto - crocodiles. What is the difference between the two?

Alligators differ from crocodiles in the form of muzzle (broader and "dull"), jaw structure and water-salt exchange features. Thanks to the ability to remove excess salt from the body (the famous "crocodile tears"), crocodiles have the ability, unlike alligators, to live not only in fresh water, but also in salted water.

Having dealt with the nuances of terminology, we will consider what it is - the largest crocodile. The most common leader in terms of dimensions in the world is the combed crocodile, whose range is southeast Asia, northern Australia and numerous islands and entire archipelagos that are located between the two continents.

The largest crocodile of recent time was caught in the Philippines in September 2011. The gluttonous creature, who received the nickname Lolong, before she got caught in the net, managed to eat one local resident, and the second officially is missing. The crocodile was hunted for three weeks. First a trap was made for him from fishing nets, but a strong reptile tore it into shreds and slipped away. The second time local peasants, whose Lolong regularly hauled livestock, made a network of metal cables. Against the metal, even the largest crocodile was powerless. After capturing, the reptile was measured and weighed. Its length was 617 centimeters, and weight - one ton. True, in captivity Lolong did not live long, only a year and a half, and died at the age of fifty (according to experts) years. For crocodiles, who live for a hundred years, this is the flowering of vitality. According to the staff of the zoo, where Lolonga was identified for living, the cause of death was the abnormally cool weather, which stayed in the district for a long time.

Large crocodiles were caught earlier. The largest crocodile in the world, whose capture was officially recorded, was caught in Bengal in the late nineteenth century. It was 9.9 meters long.

The world's largest crocodile (combed) because of the ability to live in salt water can make long sea walks, thanks to which he settled the southeast Asian islands and the northern coast of Australia. Because of the immense power and nonsense (this is the only crocodile who regularly attacks people), he has the audacity to even disperse sharks that inadvertently swim into his hunting grounds located in the coastal ocean waters!

Its closest rival is the Nile crocodile, which reaches almost the same (well, maybe, slightly smaller) sizes. In ancient times, the Egyptians, under the name of Sebek, revered the deity in the image of a crocodile. At a time when there were few people on Earth, and there were many crocodiles, these reptiles, not having natural enemies, were huge. According to ancient authors, the largest crocodile reached a length of twenty attic elbows (about 12 meters). In the future, the dimensions decreased. The reason for this, however trivial, was that crocodiles did not live to the advanced age. They were killed because of dietary meat and valuable skin.