Morelet’s Crocodile
Crocodylus moreletii
🐊
Chordata
Reptilia
Crocodilia
Crocodyloidea
Crocodylidae
Crocodylus
Crocodylus moreletii
The quiet ambusher of the Yucatán swamps, Crocodylus moreletii lurks in shaded freshwater pools, a dark-eyed relic of Mesoamerican wetlands that somehow dodged extinction by being just elusive enough
Description
Native to freshwater lakes, rivers, and swamps of Mexico’s Atlantic lowlands, Belize, and northern Guatemala, Crocodylus moreletii is a mid-sized crocodile with dark olive to nearly black scales and lighter bands along its flanks and tail. It’s got the build of a tank and the patience of a cat—perfect for snatching fish, turtles, and the occasional mammal foolish enough to drink too close to the shore.
Compared to its salt-tolerant relatives, C. moreletii prefers calm, inland habitats, rarely venturing into brackish water. Its populations suffered catastrophic declines due to hide hunting in the early 1900s, but thanks to legal protection and captive-breeding efforts, the species has made a slow, grudging comeback.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
200
0.4
0.5
3
kg
m
m
m
Piscivore
Piscivores
Hunt History
Humans hunted Crocodylus moreletii long before global trade turned its hide into handbags. Indigenous Maya groups took advantage of seasonal dry periods to capture crocodiles for meat and fat. The real slaughter began during the 1940s–1960s, when commercial leather demand turned wetlands into traplines. The species was pushed to the brink until the 1970s, when Mexico and Belize banned hunting.
Archaeological and historical evidence of human interaction:
Crocodile bones found in Mayan midden sites at Cuello, Belize (~2,500 years ago) show butchery marks consistent with hunting for food.
Murals at the Mayan site of Bonampak (c. 800 CE) depict crocodiles in ritual and hunting scenes, linking them to water deities.
Early colonial chronicles (1500s CE) describe crocodile meat traded in Yucatán markets and used for medicinal oils.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Extant
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
0
BP
Late Pleistocene
North America
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
High
Fat %
10
Est. Renderable Fat
20
kg
Targeted Organs
Tail fat
Adipose Depots
Tail fat depot, visceral
Preferred Cuts
Tail base
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
5