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Throughout much of this range numbers have been greatly reduced, although significant
populations still occur in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The American Crocodile occupies coastal habitats such
as mangrove swamps and brackish bays; it may extend well upstream in coastal rivers and occurs in large lakes.
Capable of moving considerable distances, some individuals that have strayed out of their normal range have been found in the
Cayman Islands and Trinidad.
Most ecological data for American Crocodiles comes from the Florida population, which is on the edge of the species' distribution.
A moderately sized crocodilian, occasionally exceeding 4 m in length, it appears to be primarily a hole nester, although the American
Crocodiles use both hole and mound nests. Females appear to return to the same nesting site each year, and are thought
to reach sexual maturity when they are about 2.5 m in length.
Adults remain in dens near the nests, burrowing up to 9 m into creek banks. Eggs are laid in April-May, and hatchlings emerge in
July-August. In Florida, predation on eggs and hatchlings by racoons is significant and recruitment into the population is low. In
other areas of its distribution, numbers have been reduced by hunting and habitat loss (less today with the legal growing farms).
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Bibliography: Webb, G.J.W and Manolis
Crocodiles of Autralia |
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