The Cuban crocodile is endemic to the island of Cuba and the Isle of Pines. Its location is actually limited to the southwest region of Cuba, respectively in the Ciénaga de Zapata, the largest wetland in Cuba and the Caribbean islands, declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO and a Ramsar site, and then the Ciénaga de Lanier.
Its scientific name is Crocodylus rhombifer, and it lives exclusively in marshy places with fresh water, and perhaps brackish water, a very limited habitat indeed.
Crocodylus rhombifer belongs to a group of reptiles so ancient that they become contemporaries of the dinosaurs. Our specific saurian is characterized by a rather short head with two projections behind the eyes. The dorsal gussets are in six regular rows and the fourth mandibular tooth protrudes outside the maxilla. Its dorsal color is dark grayish green, its belly white and sides yellow with black spots.
It is one of the smallest species of the genus, rarely reaching more than 3.50 m, however older adults of this species can measure up to 5 meters in length. The adaptation to water is such that its eyes and nose are located in prominent places, allowing them to see and breathe at the same time, while its body remains submerged. In this state, to the naked eye, the Cuban crocodile looks like a floating log.
On the other hand, it is probably the most terrestrial, intelligent and agile crocodile. When on land, it can indeed turn around to catch its prey. It considers itself an ambush hunter, with great patience and a precise attack. If it fails in its first intention, it will not waste its energies in a fruitless pursuit, but reserves all its strength for the next opportunity.
The Cuban crocodile's legs are longer than usual in other crocodiles. Accustomed to walking long distances, it is capable of galloping as fast as a horse, but only for a short distance, and of making great jumps up to 2 meters high, to reach prey such as a jutía or a bird perched in the low branches of trees.
The mating season is longer for the Cuban crocodile than for any other species. It begins in May and lasts until July or August. This is a period of great aggression in these animals. First, the violent fights between males to obtain the right to mate, some specimens are even mutilated in the fight, then the relentless care that the females lavish on their offspring. The females take care of their brood with such zeal that they do not even leave it to eat. When the eggs hatch, they jealously defend the newborns. Then their usual ferocity and aggressiveness increase.
The female of 6 years or more will lay 20 to 40 eggs on average, in a nest that she will make on the shore. The eggs take 50 to 70 days to hatch. The warmer the environment, the faster the little lizards hatch. The heat will also decide if they are males, while lower temperatures cause female offspring. These reptiles reach their optimal sexual maturity around 20 years, when their annual clutch reaches about 60 eggs.
In the wild, they have a high mortality rate, many are eaten by birds and other predators. Cannibalism is also very high in this species of crocodile. On average, only 1% of Cuban crocodiles will survive for a year or more in the wild, and then these lucky ones may live to be over 80 years old.
The crocodylus rhombifer feeds largely on small mammals, especially jutías, an arboreal mammal rodent typical of Cuba, as well as freshwater turtles, fish, frogs, snakes and birds. They have powerful jaws, capable of applying tons of pressure, and huge sharp teeth to hold their prey firmly and tear them apart easily. Sometimes they use their powerful tail to strike the trunks of trees, causing small animals that were on the branches to fall into their jaws.
Typically, these crocodiles only hunt on land, or on the shore, and take their larger prey into the water to kill them, then to their lairs where they will devour it a few days later.
The Cuban crocodile is currently considered endangered. The fact that they have a very small natural habitat is a concern. These crocodiles are currently bred in captivity, which ensures higher survival rates and the preservation of the species.
This is the case of the Zapata Marsh Crocodile Farm, a crocodile farm that is the largest in the country, where in the 1960s nearly 1,500 specimens were placed for reproduction, and which can be visited today during a visit to the Bay of Pigs on the Zapata Peninsula.
The Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer) is not the only large inhabitant and supreme predator of the Cuban swamp, since it coexists with the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), a minority that is larger in size, but less agile and unique than the Cuban, introduced in some specific areas of southern Matanzas.
It happened that Cuban and American crocodiles were mixed indiscriminately, resulting in a fertile hybrid that supplanted the island's, which was increasingly difficult to differentiate.
There are, however, some small hatcheries for the controlled reproduction of the American crocodile in the regions of Sabanalamar in Pinar del Río, Morón in Ciego de Ávila, Minas in Camagüey, then Sábalo in Las Tunas and Manzanillo in Granma.
The Cuban crocodile is under the strictest protection of environmental laws. Their illegal hunting and trade are severely punished by the Cuban penal code. Not only is it a symbol for the nation, but a rare and endangered species, an animal with very particular characteristics that make it unique. The crocodylus rhombifer is perhaps the smallest of its vast family, yes, but one of the fiercest and most aggressive in the world.
An inspired poet had once and for all affirmed that the island of Cuba resembled a green crocodile lying on the ocean. Cubans also say that our crocodile is perhaps not big, that it looks more like a Pekingese, small it is true, but with a very bad temper, in any case, a worthy representative of the rebellious island of the Caribbean.
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