The mugger, also known as the marsh crocodile, is a crocodile of medium to large size with the broadest snout of all the living members of the genus Crocodylus. It lives in the Indian subcontinent as well as other countries in southern Asia. They are more alligator-like than any other crocodile, especially in their rounded snout, as most crocodiles have a snout that is pointier. Like most crocodilians, muggers feature a flat head where their eyes, ears, and nose are on top. This enables them to see, hear and breathe above water when their bodies are underwater. They have webbed feet but do not use them for swimming, using their strong, flat tail instead. “Mugger” is corruption from an Indian word that means “water monster.”
The mugger crocodile occurs in the Indian subcontinent as well as surrounding countries: Sri Lanka in the east, Iran in the west, and also Pakistan and Nepal. This species is found in freshwater lakes, marshes, and ponds, and has also adapted well to reservoirs, human-made ponds, irrigation canals, and coastal saltwater lagoons. This crocodile likes shallow water no more than 5 m deep, and it avoids fast-flowing rivers. It will sometimes bury itself into the mud to avoid the searing heat in India in the dry season.
Muggers are highly social and their social behavior includes gregarious behavior, communication, territorial activities, and dominance interactions. Between adults and also adults and their young there are many vocalizations. Most of the socializing take place during the seasonal mating activities. Body postures like snout raising and tail thrashing are used by males when establishing territories and trying to gain dominance before courtship and mating. Like other crocodile species, activities include basking, diving, and swimming. In addition, a unique and important activity is burrowing. Burrows are used for thermoregulation during hot and cold periods of the day and at night muggers come out to seek food. During dry seasons, muggers walk many kilometers overland in search of water and prey and they can chase prey for short distances on land. They are adapted better than most other crocodiles to life on land.
Muggers are primarily carnivorous, eating mostly fish, frogs, crustaceans, insects, mammals, birds, and sometimes monkeys and squirrels. They also scavenge on dead animals.
Credit : Animalia
Picture Credit : Google
