True to its name the dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) is the smallest of the crocodiles. Some other names of dwarf crocodiles are bony crocodile, African dwarf crocodile, and broad-snouted crocodile.
Adult crocodiles reach the length of 1.5 m (4.9 ft) and weigh 18 and 32 kg (40 and 71 lb). The heaviest dwarf crocodile recorded at 80 kg (180 lb).
Dwarf crocodiles are found in Senegal, Central Africa, West Africa, Angola, and Uganda.
The crocodile makes home in a variety of habitats such as small rivers, mangroves, swamps, streams, and pools. They avoid living in large rivers.
They likely eat shrews, liza
rds, bats, gastropods, fish, water birds, frogs, insects, and crabs.
Dwarf crocodiles do not bask in the sun—an adaptation which is quite rare in true crocodiles.
They can charge at a speed of 17 kph (11 mph).
They come out to hunt at night. Dwarf crocodiles spend their entire day resting in burrows. However dwarf crocodiles can become active in daylight hours if they are starving.
The female lays 10 to 15 eggs and she incubates them for as long as 85 – 105 days. Hatchlings are only 28 cm long at birth.
Dwarf crocodiles can live 40 to 75 years in the wild.
The overall population of dwarf crocodiles is estimated as 25,000 – 100,000. The IUCN has listed it as a Vulnerable species.
