Dwarf crocodiles lay about 20 eggs at a time in nest mounds made of vegetation. Incubation is 87-126 days, depending on atmospheric temperature. Timid by nature, dwarf crocodiles are slow moving and do not like to bask as other crocodiles do.
African Dwarf Crocodile
Osteolaemus tetraspis
The African Dwarf Crocodile is among the smallest of crocodiles. Because of their small size, they are slower moving than other crocodiles but are no less aggressive.
The African dwarf crocodile spends more time on land than most other crocodilian species.
They are nocturnal and do their hunting at night.
They are heavily “armored,' having bony plates in the neck, back, and tail scales.
Conservation ...
West African dwarf crocodile
Class: Reptilia
Status: IUCN: Vulnerable; CITES: Appendix I.
Western lowland gorilla ...
7 feet (6.3 meters); smallest-African dwarf crocodile Osteolaemus tetraspis is 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.9 meters)
Weight: saltwater crocodile-up to 2,000 pounds (908 kilograms); most species are 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) or less ...
Crocodiles and the dwarf crocodile are a family of reptiles within the Crocodile order. The Nile crocodile, American Crocodile and mugger crocodile are example members of this family.
- Osteolaemus tetraspis, the African dwarf crocodile (1.2-1.9 m) with two sub-species O.t. tetraspis, West African dwarf crocodile and O.t. osborni, the Congo or Osborn's dwarf crocodile, formerly Osteoblepharon osborni.
With the exception of the two African dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus) and the so-called false gavial (Tomistoma) of Asia, crocodiles are classified in the genus Crocodylus, with about a dozen species.
The rainforests of Asia, Africa, Australia and the South Pacific are home to a variety of crocodile species of different sizes, from the 5-foot-long dwarf crocodile of West Africa to the giant saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) of Northern ...
Dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetrapis)
African slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus)
Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis)
Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis)
Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) ...
Crocodylus suchus is the proper name for these dwarf crocodiles, according to Schmitz, who suggested the name given by Geoffroy Saint Hillaire in 1807 should be used. (Trutnau & Sommerlad 2006)
Phylogeny ...
African rock python
African dwarf crocodile Danny Greer added to the list of potentially heavier African reptiles Leopard Tortoises (adults up to 100 pounds) and Nile Soft-shelled Turtles (adults well over 100 pounds).
 See also: Crocodile, Reptile, Alligator, Nile crocodile, Caiman
  
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