The West African slender-snouted crocodile (''Mecistops cataphractus''), or slender-snouted crocodile, is a

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

species of African

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

. It is one of five species of crocodile in Africa, the other four being the Central African slender-snouted,

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

and dwarf crocodiles. The slender-snouted crocodile (''M. cataphractus'') was thought to be distributed across west Africa and into central Africa but the central African species has been separated as the Central African slender-snouted crocodile (''M. leptorhynchus'') based on studies in 2014 and 2018 that indicated that both were distinct species. The name ''cataphractus'' is retained for the West African species as that species was described first based on specimens from western Africa. The two species diverged about 6.5–7.5 mya, living in different river drainage zones that were geographically separated from each other by the Cameroon Line.

Etymology

The genus name ''Mecistops'' is most probably derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words μήκιστ (''mēkist'') meaning "longest" and ὄψις (ópsis) meaning "aspect" or "appearance". The

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''cataphractus'' is thought to be derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word κατάφρακτος (''katáphraktos'') meaning "armoured" or "shielded".

Description

As with its relative, the West African slender-snouted crocodile has a very long, slender snout that it uses to catch fish and small aquatic invertebrates. As with all crocodilians, larger animals may feed opportunistically on larger prey if it becomes available. They are relatively medium-sized, but large males can exceed several other species of crocodilians in size. Three individuals measuring and weighing had a bite force in the range of . Adult males typically reach in length. Large males can reportedly grow up to in length. They generally weigh between . The body mass of the largest males have been estimated to reach up to .

Status

This species is relatively poorly known with few studies of the wild populations. Consequently, it was rated as Data Deficient by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

in 1996. Following a review in 2014, it was moved to

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

, although this includes both the Central African and West African species. Their declining populations are attributed to the loss of their habitats, hunting, depletion of their prey,Amoah et al. A Survival Blueprint for the conservation and management of the West African slender-snouted crocodile, Mecistops cataphractus in the Jimi River (Obuasi) and Tano River (Tanoso), Ghana. An output from the EDGE of Existence fellowship, Zoological Society of London, 2019. and illegal consumption of them through bush-meat markets. It appears to have been entirely

extirpated Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...

from several countries where formerly present and declined elsewhere. Recent conservation efforts are in effect as project faux gavial works towards lessening the hunting and commerce of the slender-snouted crocodile.Arrowood, H., & Mvele, C. (2017). Projet Faux Gavial reduces commerce of slender-snouted crocodile in Gabon. ''Oryx,'' ''51''(1), 13-14. doi:10.1017/S003060531600140X In its native range, it is extremely rare and on the verge of disappearing. There have been implemented protected wildlife preserves in Ghana, one of their main habitats, to help protect the species, though it has been largely ineffective. A study in 2015 that included 24 captive slender-snouted crocodiles in six US zoos (more than 50% of the slender-snouted crocodiles in AZA zoos) found that all were of West African origin, indicating that captive breeding may be important for conservation of this species. Captive breeding is currently being used by one zoo, the Abidjan zoo, who have already begun releasing captively bred individuals when they reach around 3–4 years old.

Distribution

West African slender-snouted crocodile occurs widely in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

(Benin, Burkina Faso, southern Senegal, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, southern Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo) and extends into Cameroon in

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

. They prefer to live in dense, vegetated bodies of water that are away from human settlements. Their distribution is currently being monitored by drone surveillance and prerecorded calls to attract them.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q268501 Crocodylidae crocodile, Slender-snouted crocodile, Slender-snouted Reptiles of Cameroon Reptiles of West Africa Reptiles described in 1825 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier