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Crocodiles are essentially the modern ones version of dinosaurs here on earth. This one huge reptiles are found worldwide and remind people of what life was like tens of millions of years ago. On an evolutionary level, crocodiles are old enough to be considered living fossils. Crocodiles, and their higher subcategory, the order Crocodilia, have been on Earth for millions of years. In addition to their survivability, they are known to have extremely long lives, comparable to that of even humans. With that in mind, how old can a crocodile get? Let’s take a look at their average lifespan, as well as the world’s oldest recorded crocodile.
Background information about crocodiles
Crocodiles are often confused with other members of their order, although they can be divided into three different families. The umbrella order is known as “order Crocodilia”, but within the order are the three families, family Crocodylidae (sometimes known as “true” crocodiles”), family Alligatoridae (containing alligators and caimans), and family Gavialidae (containing gharial and false gavials).
Crocodiles first appeared 95 million years ago in the late Cretaceous. To give some context, the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptors and Triceratops were all alive when the first crocodiles arrived on the scene. In addition, crocodiles and birds are the only living descendants of the Archosaur clade. Archosaur translates as “ruling reptile”, the original representatives of which were the dinosaurs. It is correct to say that birds and crocodiles are the only living ancestors of the dinosaurs. Strangely enough, birds and dinosaurs are each other’s closest living relatives.
How did crocodiles survive the dinosaurs?
When many people realize that crocodiles outlive the dinosaurs, questions about their resilience arise. Scientific research has some answers that explain why crocodiles outlived their dinosaur cousins.
Combining a few widely accepted theories seems to make the most sense. The first is that they were better adapted, especially after a meteor hit near the Gulf of Mexico. Cold-blooded reptiles, crocodiles can live for a long time with little food and almost no exercise. Unlike other dinosaurs (now believed to be largely warm-blooded), the crocodiles at the time required less food, did not need to move (thus conserving energy), and could enter periods of hibernation when it was cold and dark.
In addition, the amphibious and widespread nature of a crocodile’s habitat allowed it to survive when many other habitats were undergoing drastic change. Many large, terrestrial dinosaurs had no enough food to live, and the huge dinosaurs living in the sea were affected by acidifying ocean conditions. When things went bad on land, crocodiles simply went into the water; when things went bad in the sea, they were able to find new freshwater habitats.
These factors together make up a compelling story about why crocodiles survived the other dinosaurs. They were perfectly adapted to the conditions that arose after the meteor hit.
Crocodile lifespan: what is the average age of a crocodile?
When it comes to crocodiles, the main determinant is the species. Especially among the crocodile family, the average age is estimated to be 30-40 years, although that is just the average. Usually the bigger the kind of crocodile, the more likely it is to have a longer life. As a result, the saltwater crocodile is generally the longest-lived and the largest. In the wild, saltwater crocodiles have an average lifespan of 60-70 years.
Like many animals, animals in captivity have a longer lifespan than animals in the wild. This is usually due to a lack of resource scarcity and predation, which causes animals to reach their biological limit rather than their environmental limit.
How old is the oldest recorded crocodile?
The oldest recorded crocodile was Mr. Freshie, a saltwater crocodile who lived to be 140 years old.
Now, before we learn more about Mr. Talking freshie, it’s important to note that it’s notoriously difficult to accurately guess how old a crocodile is. Measuring growth rings on bones and teeth is how crocodile ages are estimated, but it’s not an exact science, especially with fluctuating wet and dry seasons causing erratic growth. In addition, his age is a estimation instead of being a crocodile whose birth was registered in a zoo.
But as we noted, the oldest recorded crocodile is known as Mr. freshie. mr. Freshie is a freshwater crocodile that lived at the Australian Zoo from 1970 to 2010. Originally captured in 1970 by Bob and Steve Irwin (the Crocodile Hunter), the two then took him to the Australian Zoo for medical attention. He had been shot twice in the tail and once in the eye by hunters, causing him to die unless he got medical attention.
Despite sustaining serious injuries, he recovered quickly and lived at the zoo until he passed away peacefully in 2010. Although he only spent forty years in captivity, it is estimated that Mr. Freshie was already 100 years old when he was captured, making him 140. years old at his death. For context, became mr. Freshie born in 1870, just five years after the American Civil War and seven years before Thomas Edison showed the first gramophone to the offices of Scientific American.
The oldest in the world still living crocodile is a nile crocodile named Henry, who turned 121 in December 2021. Henry lives in a nature reserve in South Africa. Just like mr. Freshie is estimated to be Henry’s age. He was first captured in 1985, meaning he has lived in captivity for 36 years.
How do crocodiles compare to alligators and gharial?
Crocodiles are the record holder for longest living, but alligators and gavials are not far behind.
Only two species of alligators are known, t
he
American alligator and the Chinese alligator. American alligators typically live between 30-50 years, with the record held by an alligator at the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia named Muja. Because the Chinese alligator is so uncommon, there isn’t much information about their longevity. It is probably similar to that of the American alligator. An interesting note on distribution, Crocodiles cannot survive in water temperatures below 45F degrees before succumbing to the cold. However, the American alligator can survive even in frozen lakes and ponds by ‘humming’ or sticking out their snouts, freezing and going into a state of hibernation. As a result, American alligators are more common in the United States, although they have a shorter life span.
Gharials, some of the rarest reptiles in the world, don’t have much information about them. The only recorded age is of a woman at London Zoo who lived to be 29 years old. Fishermen in their native habitats of India and Nepal claim to live “to the age of man”, probably around 100 years old.
Among their reptilian order, crocodiles rule when it comes to age and size.
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