- Also called:
- mugger crocodile or marsh crocodile
- Related Topics:
- apex predator
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What is a mugger in the context of reptiles?
The mugger ( Crocodylus palustris) is a freshwater crocodile species known for its broad head and snout and robust body. Their geographic range extends from southeastern Iran to Bangladesh and from Nepal and northern India to Sri Lanka.
Muggers can grow to between 13 and 16.5 feet long. They dwell in freshwater streams, marshes, and saltwater lagoons. They are apex predators that eat fish, reptiles, birds, deer, monkeys, and other crocodiles. They have also been known to attack livestock and people. Between 2008 and 2013, muggers attacked 110 people, about a third of whom died.
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Where are mugger reptiles usually found?
Muggers, or marsh crocodiles, are freshwater crocodiles with broad heads and snouts. They can be found in freshwater streams, ponds, marshes, and saltwater lagoons in South Asia, ranging from Iran to Bangladesh and from Nepal and northern India south to Sri Lanka. They are also known to use tools to attract prey.
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What does a mugger look like?
The mugger, or marsh crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), is a freshwater crocodile with a broad head and snout. Their coloration is a mix of grays and browns, with some adults having darker scales that form charcoal-colored patches and faint dark bands, especially on the tail. Hatchlings and juveniles have more pronounced dark patches and bands, with colors ranging from dull green to golden brown.
Muggers can grow to 4–5 meters (13–16.5 feet) long, with most adults weighing about 450 kg (990 pounds), though some can reach 700 kg (1,540 pounds). They are native to South Asia, inhabiting freshwater streams, ponds, marshes, and saltwater lagoons from Iran to Bangladesh and from Nepal and northern India south to Sri Lanka. They are easily recognized by their wide flat snout.
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What does a mugger eat?
A mugger, or marsh crocodile, is a freshwater crocodile with a broad head and snout. As apex predators, muggers eat various animals, including fish, reptiles, birds, amphibians, deer, monkeys, and even other crocodiles. They also scavenge dead carcasses and will attack livestock and people.
Muggers employ an ambush hunting strategy, waiting in the water until prey comes within striking distance. They also hunt on land, chasing their quarry at speeds up to 8 to 9 miles per hour. These crocodiles have also been observed using tools, such as sticks and twigs, to lure birds.
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How does the mugger hunt or catch its food?
The mugger crocodile, or Crocodylus palustris, is a freshwater crocodile known for its broad head and snout. They are native to South Asia and live in freshwater streams, marshes, ponds, and saltwater lagoons.
Muggers are apex predators that hunt in both water and on land. They are ambush hunters, waiting in the water until prey gets close enough to strike. They also seek prey on land, and can gallop at speeds up to 8-9 miles per hour to chase their quarry. Muggers eat a variety of animals, including fish, amphibians, birds, deer, monkeys, and even other crocodiles. They have also been observed using sticks and twigs as lures to attract birds.
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What challenges do muggers face in the wild today?
Muggers, or marsh crocodiles, face several challenges in the wild today. As apex predators in their ecosystems, they compete with other predators for food and territory. They are also known to attack livestock and people, particularly fishermen, leading to conflicts with humans.
Adult muggers have few natural predators besides humans, although tigers and other crocodiles may prey on them. Mugger eggs and hatchlings are vulnerable to crows, wild dogs, and humans, who also collect the eggs for food. Habitat loss and degradation further threaten muggers, as their freshwater pool, wetland, lake, and slow-moving stream habitats are reduced.
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mugger, (Crocodylus palustris), species of freshwater crocodile known for its broad head and snout, robust body (which gives it a superficial resemblance to the American alligator [Alligator mississippiensis]), and use of tools to attract prey. Muggers inhabit freshwater streams, ponds, and marshes, as well as saltwater lagoons, in South Asia. The mugger’s geographic range extends from extreme southeastern Iran eastward to Bangladesh and from Nepal and northern India south to Sri Lanka. The crocodile’s common name comes from magar, which translates loosely to “water monster” in the Hindi and Urdu languages.
Natural history
Muggers have a fearsome look, even when compared with other crocodiles. Like several other species of crocodiles, their coloration is a mix of grays and browns. In some adults, some of the scales on the top and sides of the body may appear darker than others, forming charcoal-colored patches and faint dark bands, especially on the tail. In hatchlings and juveniles, whose color ranges from dull green to golden brown, such dark patches and bands are more pronounced. Muggers can grow to 4–5 meters (13–16.5 feet) long. Although the largest adults can weigh as much as 700 kg (1,540 pounds), most weigh about 450 kg (990 pounds). The mugger has the broadest snout of any crocodile, and the upper jaw overlaps the lower—two characteristics, along with the animal’s size, that have earned it comparisons to the American alligator.
Muggers split their time between land and water. Like many other reptiles, muggers bask in the sun to raise their body temperature, which lifts their metabolism to allow them to become active enough to hunt and move. They nest in burrows, which provide refuge from the heat during the day and from the colder temperatures that occur at night. They hunt by sitting and waiting in the water until prey ventures close enough to be ambushed by a sudden strike of their jaws. They also will seek out prey on land, in some cases galloping at speeds as fast as 13–14.5 km (8–9 miles) per hour to chase down their quarry. In 2007 muggers were observed using sticks and twigs as hunting lures to attract birds that were in search of materials for their nests, the first evidence of tool use by a reptile.
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- Kingdom: Animalia
- Class: Reptilia
- Order: Crocodilia
- Family: Crocodylidae
- Genus: Crocodylus
Vulnerable Species
Muggers function as apex predators in the ecosystems they inhabit, and some individuals also scavenge dead carcasses for food in some locations. In addition to birds, muggers eat fishes, amphibians, deer, monkeys, and even other crocodiles. They also attack livestock and people, most of their human victims being fishermen. Between 2008 and 2013 there were 110 documented attacks by the species on people, and approximately one-third of those attacks resulted in death of the victims. Once muggers become large enough, they essentially have no natural predators other than humans; however, some sources note that adults are sometimes prey for tigers and other crocodiles. Mugger eggs and hatchlings are sometimes consumed by other animals, including crows and wild dogs, and people collect mugger eggs for food as well.
Mugger habitat is divided up into territories, and the species uses a polygynous mating system (in which one male mates with several females). Breeding males appear to tolerate one another during the dry season, when habitat is more limited. However, they become more territorial during the middle of the rainy season when mating takes place. At the beginning of the dry season, female muggers deposit about 25 to 30 fertilized eggs in their burrow, and they incubate their eggs for roughly two months before the eggs hatch. Females can produce up to two clutches per year, and hatchlings that emerge are carried to the water by their parents. Young remain in the care of their mother, father, and other nearby adult muggers for about one year before they disperse.
Female mugger crocodiles become sexually mature at about age six, when they have grown to 1.7–2 meters (about 5.6–6.6 feet) long. Males, in contrast, do not start to breed until some four years later, when they reach roughly 2.6 meters (about 8.5 feet) in length. Muggers can live for more than 30 years in captivity, and some sources suggest that the species lives between 30 and 40 years in the wild.
Conservation status
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has classified the mugger as a vulnerable species since 1982. Limited population studies conducted during the late 1980s reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 muggers remained worldwide. More-comprehensive studies conducted since then estimate that adults and juveniles combined (though excluding hatchlings) number between 5,700 and 8,700, and populations, though largely isolated from one another, occur in many parts of South Asia. The species is considered to be extinct in the wild in Bhutan and Bangladesh, but both countries report having successfully bred some individuals in captivity. Long-term mugger survival continues to be threatened by habitat loss stemming from agricultural and urban land-use change, conflict with people over fish, poaching, and accidental drowning in fishing nets.
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