Adult Mugger Crocodile
The mugger
crocodile, also called the Indian, Indus, Persian, marsh crocodile or simply mugger, is found throughout the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding countries. It is one of the three crocodilians found in India, the others being the gharial and the saltwater crocodile.
It is a medium sized crocodile that mostly inhabits freshwater lakes, ponds, sluggish rivers, swamps and marshes. Males of the species may grow 4 m (13 ft) to 4.5 m (15 ft) in length, but rarely exceed 3.7 m (12 ft). As with other crocodilians, females are smaller. The mugger crocodile has the broadest snout of any extant crocodile, giving it an alligator-like appearance. It is a more heavily armored species with enlarged scutes around the neck. Adults are dark grey or brown, while hatchlings are tan colored.
Mugger
crocodiles have 19 upper teeth on each side; a snout that is 1⅓ to 1½ as long as broad at the base; a rough head but without any ridges; mandibular symphysis extending to the level of the fourth or fifth tooth; pre-maxillo-maxillary suture, on the palate, transverse, nearly straight, or curved forwards; and nasal bones separating the pnemaxillaries above.
Four large nuchals forming a square, with a smaller one on each side; two pairs of smaller nuchals on a transverse series behind the occiput. Dorsal shield well separated from the nuchal, the scutes usually in 4, rarely in 6, longitudinal series, those of the two median usually considerably broader than long; 16 or 17 transverse series. Scales on limbs keeled. Fingers webbed at the base; outer toes extensively webbed. A serrated fringe on the outer edge of the leg. Adult blackish olive above: young pale olive, dotted and spotted with black.
Male mugger crocodiles are larger than females, a trait called sexual dimorphism. However the difference between sexes is not as pronounced as is some other species of crocodilians. On average, adult females are 2.45 m (8.0 ft) in length and males are 3.2 m (10 ft). The weight of an average male this size would be in the range of 200 to 250 kg (440 to 550 lb). Weight in adults is variable, since a large male can be much more heavily built than a small adult female. Most individuals in a population made up of adults and subadults of both sexes would measure commonly from 40 to 200 kg (88 to 440 lb).
Old, mature males can get much larger, at up 4–5 m (13–16 ft) and a weight of more than 450 kg (1000 lbs). Although individuals exceeding 4.3 m (14 ft) are exceptionally rare, the largest Mugger on record measured a huge 5.2 m (17 ft) in length