Largest true Crocodile

[Vodmeister]

So what is truly the biggest crocodile in the world?

The fact that crocodiles above 6.1 m (20 ft) and 1000 kg (2,200 lbs) exist is pretty much an undeniable fact, because crocodiles have reached these sizes, in both captivity and in the wild. To this day, the longest crocodile actually captured and measured officially was a 6.45 m (21.2 ft) saltwater crocodile who weighed 1,090 kg (2,400 lbs), the heaviest crocodile confirmed however, was over 1,300 kg (2,900 lbs).

Crocodiles up to 7 m (23 ft) have not yet been officially confirmed, but that's mainly due to the difficulty of trapping this animal. Guinness however, did accept the claim of a 23 ft saltwater crocodile who weighs 2000 kg (4,400 lbs) living in Bhitarkanika NP, Odisha, India. There are currently four other crocodiles in that national park which are claimed to exceed 20-23 ft in length.

A skull of a saltwater crocodile was found which was claimed to belong to a 25 ft specimen, but later that theory was debunked and experts estimated the owner of the skull to be 20-22 ft in length. A 28 ft crocodile was shot in Queensland, Australia, but no verification for the size of the animal was taken.

There have also been claims of crocodiles of over 30 feet in length, but evidence was mediocre or virtually non-existent.

[Vodmeister]

Here's a chart I made myself.



I used to cube root law to calculate the normal weight range for saltwater crocodiles of various lengths. Obviously, the length of a crocodile is considered to be from snout to tail end.

As the normal weight for a 4 m (13 ft) crocodile is about 338 kg (745 lbs), then it would mean that a 7 m crocodile with a similar body ratio would be about 1,800 kg (4,000 pounds).

[blaze]

I'm not aware of any confirmed 6m+/1000kg+ saltwater crocodile other than Lolong, could you provide citations? Regarding the biggest crocodile in the world, it might be surprising but the third biggest crocodylus skull on record is one of an American crocodile, at 73.5cm in dorsal length.

[Vodmeister]

The largest crocodile ever held in captivity is an estuarine–Siamese hybrid named Yai (Thai: ?, meaning big) (born 10 June 1972) at the Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo, Thailand. This animal measures 6 m (20 ft) in length and weighs 1,114.27 kg (2,456.5 lb).

Source: ^ The Guinness Book of Records. Largest Captive Crocodile, Worldcrocodile.com

[Fragillimus335]

There is some circumstantial evidence of "Krys" the 8.63 meter long croc shot in Queensland...




There is of course a bit of forced perspective going on here, but it is obvious that this animal is quite a monster...

[blaze]

Damn, I didn't knew about Yai, thanks! though... I'm still a bit suspicious, was the length measured by the zoo and Guinness just said yes? I'm aware that in recent years they've become kind of lax, as in accepting the largest crocs some 7m indian salties that have never been measured nor captured. But anyway, at least is not outrageous as some other claims.

Fragillimus335, I don't think photos are enough, case in point, this rhino sized bear.


The people are too far behind the croc is obvious they aimed for a forced perspective that it'll exaggerate its size.

[creature386]

This paper said crocodiles can reach a length of up to 6,7 m (just read the introduction, it is also a very recent paper):
www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0031781

[blaze]

Yes but it cites a paper from 1989 for that claim mmm anyway, it's likely that size is reachable, the largest skull is 76cm in dorsal length, it'll mean a ratio of 1:8.8 in order to get 6.7m in total length, I'm surprised by how much variation is there in this measure in saltwater crocodiles, do their tails get proportionally longer as they get older? or is it that their skulls get proportionally smaller? or is it a bit of both?

[Vodmeister]

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rILOsu0RO-o

[Ceratodromeus]

I know this is like two years late but in his communication on Lolong, Adam Britton(alongside the whitakers) put forward the notion that Yai is the result of Hybrid vigor, though he's a very big animal indeed. Here is what was reported in the communication on Lolong

s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/31873075/Britton_et_al_2012_-_Cpor_exceptional_size.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA&Expires=1475016433&Signature=j1WDLPVUgg8FuabRRyEufph2KCI%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DHere_be_a_dragon_exceptional_size_in_a_s.pdf


Another large hybrid being measured(TBL)



The Orinoco crocodile ~23ft in length accepted by Schmidt, and later Greer(1974 for the latter), and the Mwanza nile crocodile of similar length are probably worth mentioning on the topic as well.

[dinosauria101]

Well there are also some pretty good sized extinct true crocodiles.
Crocodylus bugtiensis was about 11 meters and 6 tons (the size of Tarbosaurus!) and Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni and anthrophophagus, to my knowledge, averaged 7-8 meters and weighed around 2-2.5 tons.

[theropod]

11m and 6t? Is there a source for that?

[Infinity Blade]

May 3, 2019 3:53:23 GMT 5 theropod said:

11m and 6t? Is there a source for that?

Donald Prothero's book Rhinoceros Giants claims that giant crocodile fossils were uncovered in the Bugti Beds and are apparently referred to as Crocodylus bugtiensis. He says that estimated total length for these crocodiles was 10-11 meters long (link), but provides no weight estimate (though, maybe ~6t isn't unreasonable if D. riograndensis and P. brasiliensis are anything to go by?).

I know I discussed this with blaze years ago; I was, of course, interested in knowing more about how much water these claims held. But I forgot what came of that conversation. So it's up to you whether or not you'll take Prothero's word for it.

[dinosauria101]

May 3, 2019 3:53:23 GMT 5 theropod said:

11m and 6t? Is there a source for that?

Well, I'm not quite sure. It was the only solid size estimate I found while searching for information to make the Crocodylus bugtiensis vs Tarbosaurus thread, so I though 'what the heck I'll go with that, it's the same size as Tarbo'.

Infinity Blade do you think that actually holds water? I'm a bit concerned about Crocodylus bugtiensis getting shrunk and the thread then turning into a mismatch in favor of Tarbosaurus, as is the case with many prehistoric crocodile matchups.....