The dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis), also known as the African dwarf crocodile, broad-snouted crocodile (a name more often used for the Asian mugger crocodile) or bony crocodile, is an African crocodile that is also the smallest extant (living) species of crocodile.
Characteristics
Dwarf crocodiles attain a medium adult length of 1.5 m (4.9 ft), though the maximum recorded length for this species is 1.9 m (6.2 ft). Adult specimens typically weigh between 18 and 32 kg (40 and 71 lb), with the largest females weighing up to 40 kg (88 lb) and the largest males weighing 80 kg (180 lb). This makes it the smallest living crocodile species, although the Cuvier's dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus), a member of the family Alligatoridae, is smaller at up to about 1.7 m (5.6 ft). If the Congo dwarf crocodile (O. osborni) is recognized as a valid species, it would be both the smallest crocodile and the smallest crocodilian since it does not surpass 1.2 m (3.9 ft). Adults are all dark above and on their sides, while the underside is yellowish with black patches. Some individuals living in the caves of Abanda, Gabon, displayed orange patches, apparently due to alkaline bat guano that erodes the skin of the crocodile. Juveniles have a lighter brown banding on body and tails and yellow patterns on the head.
Biology and behaviour
The dwarf crocodile is a timid and mainly nocturnal reptile that spends the day hidden in pools or burrows, although it occasionally may be active during the day. Foraging is mainly done in or near the water, although it is considered to be one of the most terrestrial species of crocodilian and may expand the feeding pattern to land in extensive forays, especially after rains.
Dwarf crocodiles are generalist predators and have been recorded feeding on a wide range of small animals such as fish, crabs, frogs, gastropods, insects, lizards, water birds, bats and shrews. In a study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the primary food item was fish, and in a study in Nigeria the primary food items were gastropods and crabs. In the Congo there is a level of seasonality in its diet, changing from fish in the wet season to crustaceans in the dry season, when fish are less available. Plant material has also been found in the stomach of dwarf crocodiles, but it is suspected that this is ingested by accident. They can survive for relatively long periods without food. During the dry season, dwarf crocodiles often retreat to deep holes.
True to its solitary, nocturnal nature, a dwarf crocodile digs out a burrow in which to hide and rest during the day, which can sometimes have a submerged entrance. An individual lacking the right conditions to do so usually lives between tree roots that hang over the ponds where it lives.
Distribution
The Dwarf crocodile is an African reptile. The area of its distribution stretches from sub-Saharan regions to west-central Africa, from southern Senegal to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reaching as south as northern Angola. The primary habitat of the Dwarf crocodile is rainforest. The reptile occurs in tropical lowland regions, where the animal inhabits swamps with dense vegetation, slow flowing currents and rivers. In addition, the Dwarf crocodiles are sometimes found in savannah pools.
Population
In some areas of their natural range, the animals are threatened by local people, who hunt the crocodiles for their meat. On the other hand, increased human activity throughout the area of their natural habitat is another serious concern to the population of these reptiles. The Dwarf crocodiles are threatened by the development of human settlements within their home range. They are exposed to alteration and loss of habitat due to forest clearance for the timber industry as well as invasion of agricultural plantations such as palm oil. In addition, the clearance of their rainforest habitat in order to produce grazing areas for livestock, has sharply decreased the area of their distribution, particularly because these animals are not welcome by farmers, who fear for their livestock.
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Theory:
I had a very similar trajectory, and I think it was a good decision. Welcome to the resistance. It's libs all the way down unfortunately, but you take what you can get.
Feel like this is the only place on the internet where I don't get social anxiety from posting
A femboy once sent me a selfie, to which I replied by saying he's cute. He then called me gay.
:live-tucker-reaction: where will it end?
New Megathread Nerds!!! :croc-pog:
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Remember nerds, no current struggle session discussion here on the general megathread, i will ban you from the comm and remove your comment, have a good day/night :meow-coffee:
I have so many fesh herbs and got a selection if fancy mustards and pickles from a local spitnim pals with. So with all that together I made the best potato salad ever
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Elephant fact: Elephant testicles are inside their bladders, so in a bizarre twist, the balls are stored in pee.
Using liquid cooling for sperm. Elephants are living in the future.
Did he have an unorthodox path to becoming a cop? Feels like it's basically impossible to be around cops starting at age 18 and think like that, lol.
Apparently they're firing Nate Silver? lol, Tucker, Lemon, Silver what a potpourri
Firing every news guy with a name found in the common English dictionary
Steven Crowder's divorced guy era is going to be so good.
https://twitter.com/LegendaryEnergy/status/1650915889884311552
☝️☝️☝️ funniest video he's ever recorded
my then-wife decided she didn’t want to be married anymore. And, of course, in the state of Texas that is completely permitted
Lol cope
E: lol how many times is he gonna whine that the law won’t let him trap his ex in a loveless marriage. Lol
Seriously, what kind of pathetic loser wants to keep someone in a relationship against their will?
Musk, West, Crowder: Listen up liberal, my wife left me.
Imagine waiting to have sex your entire life only to get divorced
I'm still shocked that he was married
EDIT: this piece of shit has kids? :walter-breakdown:
Am I really upset about being a shithead 13 years ago or am I just not taking care of myself well enough?
I tailor all of my resumes to the place I'm applying to, thats a lot of work. I hate job searching.
The only jobs I've ever gotten were from connections or a recruiter that only had my CV.
Sending out applications into the void is fucking depressing.
It feels worse now that indeed makes you log in to see past the first page of results
Abrahamic religions are such a ripoff
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only 1 god
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always in a bad mood
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doesn't fuck
It is kind of shit. Why would you worship that god, out of the available options? He sounds like a miserable dickhead. Might as well just not have gods, or kill them off like the Klingons did.
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"And I'm your sweet baby criminal and 30 under 30 media luminary, Griffin McElroy!"
I’m paying a ton (that I do not have) for therapy
Why can’t these people just tell me what I should say/do to solve my problems instead of giving me tools to solve my problems
:angery:
watch Ip Man, good movie Donnie Yen is cool
find out Ip Man was real :isaac-pog:
he was a KMT police officer :ooooooooooooooh:
He joined in 1916, when it was basically the most progressive force in China. Also, he was apparently addicted to Opium.
You know, instead of the heavily romanticized version of his life they used in the movies, a good idea for an Ip Man story might be starting with him as an idealistic young martial artist who joins the KMT and the police hoping to make a positive difference in China, then slowly falling down a path of addiction as the KMT as an institution loses its purpose and decays into a corrupt gang of opium gangsters, then he has to basically rebuild his whole life in Hong Kong.
Been listening to a lot of this left-adjacent podcast recently, they're called "ChapoTrapHouse".
Noticed that in the old episodes they had this one, kinda annoying guy named Dante Montana or something, wonder what happened to him.
:whip-it-woman: divine comedy but with two cowboys & the various circles are just the US
There can't be a Russian Obama because Russian doesn't even have an "uh" sound.