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The dwarf crocodile, also known as the African dwarf crocodile, broad-snouted crocodile, or bony crocodile, is an African crocodile that is also the smallest species of crocodile.
Dwarf crocodiles attain a medium adult length of 1.5 m (4.9 ft), though the maximum recorded length for this species is 1.9 m (6.2 ft). Adult specimens typically weigh between 18 and 32 kg (40 and 71 lb), with the largest females weighing up to 40 kg (88 lb) and the largest males weighing 80 kg (180 lb). This makes it the smallest living crocodile species, although the Cuvier's dwarf caiman, a member of the family Alligatoridae, is smaller at up to about 1.7 m (5.6 ft). If the Congo dwarf crocodile is recognized as a valid species, it would be both the smallest crocodile and the smallest crocodilian since it does not surpass 1.2 m (3.9 ft). Adults are all dark above and on their sides, while the underside is yellowish with black patches. Some individuals living in the caves of Abanda, Gabon, displayed orange patches, apparently due to alkaline bat guano that erodes the skin of the crocodile. Juveniles have a lighter brown banding on body and tails and yellow patterns on the head.
As a result of its small size and heightened vulnerability to predation, this species of crocodile has a heavily armoured neck, back, and tail and also has osteoderms on its belly and underside of neck.
Dwarf crocodiles range across tropical regions of Sub-Saharan West Africa and Central Africa. Such a distribution greatly overlaps with that of the slender-snouted crocodile, encompassing countries as far west as Senegal, reaching Uganda in the east, and ranging as southerly as Angola. The last confirmed record from Uganda was in the 1940s, but whether the species, which is easily overlooked, still survives there is unclear.
Dwarf crocodiles live from lowlands to mid-altitude in streams, small rivers, swamps, pools and mangrove, but generally avoid main sections of large rivers. Most of their range is within forested regions, but it may extend into more open regions where the streams or river are well-shaded. Unlike most crocodiles, dwarf crocodiles only rarely bask in the sun. During the night they may move some distance from water on land. Reports exist of dwarf crocodiles in isolated pools in the savannah. Dwarf crocodiles living long-term in caves are known from western Gabon, which stand out as an isolated genetic group.
The dwarf crocodile is a timid and mainly nocturnal reptile that spends the day hidden in pools or burrows, although it occasionally may be active during the day. Foraging is mainly done in or near the water, although it is considered to be one of the most terrestrial species of crocodilian and may expand the feeding pattern to land in extensive forays, especially after rains.
Dwarf crocodiles are generalist predators and have been recorded feeding on a wide range of small animals such as fish, crabs, frogs, gastropods, insects, lizards, water birds, bats and shrews.
In the Congo there is a level of seasonality in its diet, changing from fish in the wet season to crustaceans in the dry season, when fish are less available. Plant material has also been found in the stomach of dwarf crocodiles, but it is suspected that this is ingested by accident. They can survive for relatively long periods without food. During the dry season, dwarf crocodiles often retreat to deep holes.
True to its solitary, nocturnal nature, a dwarf crocodile digs out a burrow in which to hide and rest during the day, which can sometimes have a submerged entrance. An individual lacking the right conditions to do so usually lives between tree roots that hang over the ponds where it lives.
Interacting closely only in breeding season, female dwarf crocodiles build their nest mounds at the beginning of the wet season, which spans May and June. The nest, situated near the water, is a mound of wet, decaying vegetation that incubates the eggs due to the heat generated by the decomposition of the plant material. A small number of eggs is laid, usually about 10, though in extreme cases up to 20, and they incubate in 85 to 105 days. Hatchlings measure 28 cm when emerging from the eggs. The female guards the nest during the incubation period, and after the eggs hatch, she watches over the young for an unknown period of time, as young can be eaten by a great range of predators (birds, fish, mammals and reptiles, including other crocodiles).