EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Mugger or Marsh Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris)
northern India

Explanation:  Basking on a freshwater riverbank in northern India is this massive hold-over of the dinosaur era.  This is a mugger, also known as a marsh crocodile. 

Growing to a typical maximum length of 4 m (12 feet) and weight of 200 kg (440 pounds), muggers are not to be trifled with.  Crocodiles can have a bite strength of up to 1360 kg (3000 pounds) per square inch! 

Muggers have been recorded to feed on water insects, snails, frogs, and fish ... but also have been recorded to have eaten leopard, wild dog, hyena, spotted deer, sambar, nilgai and other antelopes, monkeys, domestic dogs, goats, calves, pigs, ducks, snakes, and turtles, although man-eating apparently is uncommon in India.

Muggers play an important "social keystone" role in the ecology of marshes and rivers.  They can control populations of less desirable fish such as catfish, allowing commercially valuable species such as carp to thrive.  

Information:
   Daniel, J. C. 2002. The book of Indian reptiles and amphibians. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India. 238 pp.