African Dwarf Crocodile

The African dwarf crocodile, Osteolaemus tetraspis, also called the West African dwarf crocodile, is the smallest living species of crocodile, a member of the family Crocodylidae found across the equatorial rainforest belt of Sub-Saharan West and Central Africa, from Senegal east to Uganda and south to Angola. Adults measure 1.7 to 1.9 meters and weigh 18 to 32 kilograms, with a blunt snout as wide as it is long, dark upper coloration and a yellowish underside marked with black patches, juveniles showing lighter brown banding and yellow head markings, and a heavily armored neck, back, tail and belly of bony plates that compensate for its small size. It occupies streams, small rivers, swamps, pools and mangroves at low to mid elevations, rarely basking in the sun unlike most crocodiles, and is classified as vulnerable due to habitat loss and hunting.