1. Basic information

Chinese name: Ancient crocodile

Latin name: Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Cuvier, 1807)

Alternative name: Dwarf Crocodiles, dwarf crocodiles

Kingdom: Animalia

phylum: Chordate

Subphylum: Vertebrates

Class: Reptiles

Subclass: Biporia

Order: Crocodiles

Family: Alligidae

Genus: Ancient Crocodile genus

Species: Ancient crocodile

II. Morphological characteristics

The total length of ancient crocodile is 1.2-1.5 meters ; Weight 6-7 kg, males are larger. The skin on the body of the blunt alligator is reinforced with bony plates, the body color is brown, with dark brown or black horizontal stripes, the snout is smooth, and there is no bony ridge between the eyes. The blunt alligator is the smallest and lightest of all crocodiles in existence.

III. Living habits

The ancient crocodile mainly lives in the freshwater waters with good water quality in the virgin forests of South America. Feed on small animals. Although the blunt alligator is a carnivore, it has a relatively mild temperament. They like cool and damp places by nature, and they are nocturnal.

IV. Distribution

The ancient crocodile is mainly distributed in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, and Paraguay in South America. Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

V. Breeding

Ancient crocodiles lay eggs in the rainy season, and each lays 10-25 eggs. The incubation time of the ancient alligator is slightly longer than that of other crocodiles, reaching 90 days. Moreover, the hatching rate of hatching in the wild state is only 40%. The alligator is a type of crocodile, and its sex is determined by the incubation temperature. When the temperature is extremely below 30 degrees Celsius, the female crocodile is the largest number of young crocodiles born.

Although the ancient blunt alligator has a long history, it is different from the endangered Chinese alligator in my country.