Mugger crocodile

The mugger crocodile is a medium sized, broad snouted crocodilian of freshwater marshes, lakes, rivers and man made ponds across southeastern Iran and the Indian subcontinent, rarely exceeding five metres in length. It is a powerful swimmer that can also travel overland between water bodies during the dry season, and both juveniles and adults dig burrows for shelter when temperatures fall below 5 degrees Celsius or rise above 38. Females lay up to 46 eggs in sand nests, with the sex of hatchlings determined by incubation temperature, and both parents guard the young for about a year; juveniles eat insects before progressing to fish, reptiles, birds and mammals as adults. The species, which evolved roughly 4.19 million years ago, is legally protected in Iran, India and Sri Lanka but is classified as Vulnerable owing to habitat loss, entanglement in fishing nets and conflict with people.