Critically Endangered
Cuban crocodile
Crocodylus rhombifer
The Cuban crocodile is a small-medium species of crocodile endemic to Cuba.
Appearance
The Cuban crocodile has numerous characteristics that set it apart from other crocodilians, such as its brighter adult colors, rougher, more 'pebbled' scales, and long, strong legs.
Typical adults were found to have measured 2.1–2.73 m (6 ft 11 in – 8 ft 11 in) in length and weighed 70–120 kg (150–260 lb).
Range and habitat
Today, the Cuban crocodile can only be found in Cuba's Zapata Swamp, where it is highly endangered. It formerly ranged elsewhere in the Caribbean. Fossils of this species have been found in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas and Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic). The Cuban crocodile appears to favor freshwater habitat such as swamps, marshes, and rivers and rarely swims in saltwater.
The species' fossil record reveals it had at one point a greater range, with fossil remains being found in the Bahamas, Hispaniola and the Cayman Islands.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
Small fish, arthropods, and crustaceans make up the diet of young Cuban crocodiles. Adults of the species feed mostly upon small mammals, fish, and turtles.
In the wild, crocodiles will nest in wet marshes. Where they will create trenches and cover the eggs with organic material. As with other crocodilians the sex of the Cuban crocodile's offspring is determined by the temperature in the nest.
In crisis
The Cuban crocodile is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. The Cuban crocodile is a critically endangered species, listed on CITES appendix 1. Humans have hunted this species to near extinction.
Much research remains to be done on the remaining wild populations. Hybridization with the American crocodile also represents a significant threat to the Cuban crocodile.
Cuban crocodile is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Cuban crocodile, Wikidata item Q242102. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
