4960 x 3506 px | 42 x 29,7 cm | 16,5 x 11,7 inches | 300dpi
Aufnahmedatum:
2008
Ort:
Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife Drive, Sanibel, FL, United States
Weitere Informationen:
The American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas. It occurs from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of southern Mexico and in South America as far as Peru and Venezuela. It also breeds on Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola, and there is a remnant population of approximately 2, 000 in Florida, United States. The population in the United States is restricted only to the very southern tip of Florida. The habitat of the American crocodile consists largely of freshwater or brackish water coastal habitats, and mangrove swamps. The American crocodile is larger than some other crocodile species, with some males reaching lengths of 6.1 m (20 ft) in Central and South America, but rarely exceed a length of 4 m (13 ft) in Florida. The species was scientifically recognised in 1875, when a museum collector named William T. Hornaday was sent from Washington to Florida in order to collect alligator skins. Upon hearing of a "big old gator" in Arch Creek at the head of Biscayne Bay, Hornaday and his companions searched for it and reported: "In a few hours we got sight of him, out on the bank in a saw-grass wallow. He was a monster for size-a perfect whale of a saurian, grey in colour-and by all the powers, he was a genuine crocodile!"
