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Lantec

Join Date 07/2003

+346

I was of the understanding that the crocodile was an introduced species, native only to the Southern Hemiphere.

No Starkers, they're just rare. You see...us Americans EAT our Crocodiles instead of the other way around

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
DIVISION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES

SPECIES ACCOUNTS
Source Endangered and Threatened Species of the Southeastern United States (The Red Book) FWS Region 4 -- As of

AMERICAN CROCODILE

(Crocodylus acutus)

FAMILY: Crocodylidae

STATUS: Endangered throughout its United States range, Federal Register, September 25, 1975

DESCRIPTION: A large lizard-shaped reptile, the crocodile closely resembles the alligator. Hatchlings are about 23 centimeters in length; adults may grow to 4.5 meters or larger. Florida crocodiles may be distinguished from alligators by their more slender build and their difference in snout shape. The crocodile's snout tapers forward from the eyes while the alligator's snout is untapered and rounded at the end. When the mouth is closed, the fourth tooth in the lower jaw is exposed in the crocodile but concealed in the alligator. The adult crocodile's diet includes fish, crabs, birds, turtles, snakes, and small mammals. The young feed chiefly on aquatic invertebrates and small fish. As a general rule crocodilians feed on any prey items which can be caught and overpowered.

REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT: Females in south Florida begin nest construction in April, and eggs are laid in late April or early May. Twenty to 6O eggs may be laid in a clutch. Hatching occurs in July and August. One of the parents, presumably the female, opens the nest and assists the young in hatching. There is some evidence that human disturbance of the female while guarding the nest may disrupt the normal behavior pattern of nest protection and assistance to the young during the hatching process. Freedom from human disturbance during this period may be a critical factor to recovery of the crocodile.

RANGE AND POPULATION LEVEL: The American crocodile breeds only in the southern portions of the Everglades National Park, chiefly Florida Bay, and outside the park on adjacent Key Largo, and at Turkey Point. Crocodiles are occasionally reported from the lower Florida Keys on Big Pine, Little Pine, and Howe Keys, with past breeding rumored on Little Pine Key. This lower Keys population exists primarily within the National Key Deer Refuge. Historically the crocodile ranged north on the east coast at least to Lake Worth, Palm Beach County. Breeding is suspected but undocumented for this area. The records do not indicate any difference between current and historic range on the west coast. Present population trends in Florida are clearly down. The estimated population is between 2OO to 4OO individuals with 25 to 3O known breeding females. Over the last decade there has been a slight increase in the number of nests produced.

HABITAT: The crocodile is primarily a coastal species utilizing mangrove swamps, salt and brackish water bays, and brackish creeks. Crocodiles may also enter coastal canals and borrow pits. Nesting occurs primarily in hardwood thickets at heads of small sand beaches and on marl banks along narrow coastal creeks. There is some data to indicate that hatchlings may require brackish or fresh water during their early development, but more recent studies indicate that frequent rainfall is sufficient to supply the water needs of hatchlings. Adults withstand full seawater salinity and wander widely in coastal areas.

CRITICAL HABITAT: The following area (exclusive of those existing man- made structures or settlements which are not necessary to the normal needs or survival of the species) is critical habitat for the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) All land and water within the following boundary in Florida: beginning at the easternmost tip of Turkey Point, Dade County, on the coast of Biscayne Bay; then southeastward along a straight line to Christmas Point at the southernmost tip of Elliott Key; then southwest along a line following the shores of the Atlantic Ocean side of Old Rhodes Key, Palo Alto Key, Anglefish Key, Key Largo, Plantation Key, Windley Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, and Long Key, to the westernmost tip of Long Key; then northwestward along a straight line to the westernmost tip of Middle Cape; then northward along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico to the north side of the mouth of Little Sable Creek; then eastward along a straight line to the northernmost point of Nine-Mile Pond; then northeastward along a straight line to the point of beginning.

REASONS FOR CURRENT STATUS: Many alligator deaths are caused by the direct loss of habitat to urbanization. Other causes, byproducts of urbanization, include human disturbance or intentional killing and accidental deaths in commercial fishing nets and on highways. There is some evidence that decreased fresh water flow into the Florida Bay ecosystem has increased salinities to a point that cannot be tolerated by hatchlings. Heavy predation on hatchlings in Florida Bay, primarily by raccoons, is also thought to be hampering recruitment.

MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION: The absence of past management programs for the crocodile makes its potential for response to specific measures a largely unknown factor. Beyond the currently available State and Federal legal protection, it appears that a public information program is needed to decrease accidental mortality and increase public tolerance of large, breeding-sized individuals.

REFERENCES:

U.S. Department of Interior. 1977. Species Accounts for Sensitive Wildlife Information System (SWIS). Compiled by Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Laboratory, Gainesville, Florida.

**U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1984. American Crocodile Recovery Plan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlanta, Georgia. 37 pp.

For more information please contact: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
31OO University Boulevard, South
Suite 12O
Jacksonville, Florida 32216

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The American crocs must be indigenous to make the Endangered Species list, qué non? I could have sworn alligators were the only big reptiles that originated here. Must google some now. There aren't manatees outside of North America are there?

I love this Aussie thread. We don't hear much about your politics aside from announcements of various agreements between your PM & our so-called president...

So similar yet so different

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I love this thread, too. Oz has always been a place I wanted to visit mostly to see the diversity of wildlife, especrially the abundance of many types of marsupials (we only have the oppossum) but Jafo has not made the invitation clear no matter how many times I tell him I'm coming

There is one animal I know we have in America that the rest of the world does not. They are the most incredible critters (having lived amongst them).

He is Procyon lotor. "Arakum" in the Native Algonquin tongue. Coony Monsters. We know him as Raccoon.

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Lantec

Join Date 07/2003

+346

There aren't manatees outside of North America are there?

Yes, there are. There are four species. Ours is the West Indian Manantee. I believe they call them dugongs near Australia and in the Indian Ocean. The others are West African and Amazonian.

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Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1846

SD...I think the Platypus takes the cake for 'incredible'...

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Some US croc stuff:

American Crocodile - Range map
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/brittoncrocs/cst_cacu_dh_map.htm

A few pics with some infornation

American Crocodile
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/enlarged.asp?imageID=19066

American Alligator, American Crocodile & others
http://www.montereybay.com/creagrus/crocs.html

I never knew...

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Lantec

Join Date 07/2003

+346

Platypus takes the cake for 'incredible'.

Definitely unique. Sort of a Genetic train wreck.

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LOL- childhood memory:

Mind me platypus duck, Bill,
mind me platypus duck.
Don't let him go running amok, Bill,
mind me platypus duck.

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Lantec

Join Date 07/2003

+346

Gators have bounced back from their "near extinction" and are now becoming a nuisance. For people who don't live with them you can equate them with Mountain Lions. They only occasionally go after humasns, but people's pets make up a large part of they're normal diet nowadays. 25 years ago it was unusual to see one unless you went out on the St. Johns or one of the larger lakes. Just before the last hurricane came through they removed one from a retention pond near downtown. That's about 4 miles from the river and at least a mile from any major lake.

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SD...I think the Platypus takes the cake for 'incredible'

Yes, biologically speaking you'r dead nuts on. An aquatic mammal that lays eggs and also nurses it's young throws so many biologists into fits.

The Raccon is incredible in behavioral ways. They give 120% in what they do. In traps they are a demon. As babies they are teddy bears. When they wash their food, they act human. They bark like a dog, and purr like a cat. When two of them fell asleep on me while they were still in the midst of a wrestling match with each other, all I could do was laugh. When hand capturing babies, they cover their eyes with both hands, scream and pee all at the same time. It's just the cutest thing. But when grabbing the back end of a wild one trying to get away and having their canines rip through my skin like razors, they are not as cute.

I suppose I have a bias, but only wanted to mention a mammal that was indigenous to the Americas. Oz has thousands indigenous to Oz. The bats themselves would be worth the trip.

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Are there 'possums in IL, SD?

Beautiful coons in #53. They look so innocent... LOL

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Let's see, raccoons, Platypus, manatees, crocodiles. I can see where all these have to do with time change.

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Oppossums and coyotes are the only two mammals that continue to expand their natural range in spite of efforts to stop them. When coyotes are euthenized by the USFW, they start having larger litters. Amazing.

Sorry, yes we have 'possoms here. Their 50 teeth will mess you up if you let them get you, but distract them with one hand and pick them up by their prehensile tail and they are helpless to get you.

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Let's see, raccoons, Platypus, manatees, crocodiles. I can see where all these have to do with time change.

They're the ones that don't get thrown off when it happens

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starkers

Join Date 05/2004

+1153

No Starkers, they're just rare. You see...us Americans EAT our Crocodiles instead of the other way around

Thanks for posting the info, Lantec....it certainly clears up the misunderstanding, and further proves that old saying: "Don't believe everything you read or see on TV." I just wish that I could remember the name of the documentary, in which one of the 'so-called' experts clearly stated that the crocodile is an introduced species to the U.S. Given the information you've so kindly provided, 'that program' seems to have got it wrong and needs correcting to save further confusion.

As for eating our wild crocs, well that's a no,no because they're a protected species, though we do have farms where they are bred specifically for study purposes, food and leather products, etc. Also, croc attacks on humans in Aust are not commonplace, and generally occur only when the inexperienced tourist/traveller ventures into their habitat, oblivious to the unseen dangers, silently lurking nearby.

There is one animal I know we have in America that the rest of the world does not.

I've heard that about Raccoons, but isn't the Rattlesnake another? The 'rattler' is another one of those more unusual creatures that fascinate me (from a great distance

) and I'm curious to know if the can be natively found elsewhere. Please...no offers to send us some.....we have the top 4 or 5 of the world's deadliest, as it is.

[Jafo]
SD...I think the Platypus takes the cake for 'incredible'...

Too true, and with its quiet, secretive and obscure lifestyle, we know so little about it, really! We have another oddity, however, peculiar to Australia.....and the U.S. is quite welcome to retain the Lil Johnny anomaly for extensive research when he next visits there. Heck, we'll even provide the cage, if necessary. Can't guarantee you'd discover anything remarkable, but he won't be missed here.

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Can't guarantee you'd discover anything remarkable, but he won't be missed here.

...Who??

...but Jafo has not made the invitation clear no matter how many times I tell him I'm coming

SD ...here in Oz, the door's always open...

...unless it's shut

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starkers

Join Date 05/2004

+1153

but he won't be missed here.

...Who??

Crikey, Wreckless....he ain't even on the plane yet! More is the pity, but you've done oodles to corroborate my theory

..unless it's shut

Sadly never is...lil Johnny got back in after the last OS trip, didn't he!!

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This thread seemed like the place for this pic-- one of 4 in a National Geographic news item on a croc bigger than the Aussies'...(just slightly, though)

'Godzilla' Fossils Reveal Real-Life Sea Monster http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/photogalleries/godzilla/photo4.html

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link didn't work for me http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1110_051110_sea_monster.html

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oh, now it does. sorry

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