Federally threatened · Native to the United States

American crocodile

Crocodylus acutus Cuvier, 1807

In the US found only in south Florida
Data updated October 2026

American crocodile basking on a muddy coastal bank, showing a narrow pointed snout and grayish-green body
Fig. 1 — Adult basking on a coastal bank. Note the narrow, tapering snout.
Side view of an American crocodile's head with the lower fourth tooth showing outside the closed mouth
Fig. 2 — With the mouth closed, the fourth tooth of the lower jaw still shows.

At a glance

A shy, grayish-green crocodile of coastal salt and brackish water. In the US it lives only in south Florida, the one place where crocodiles and alligators share the same waters. Once down to a few hundred animals, Florida’s population has recovered enough to be reclassified from endangered to threatened in 2007.

01

Identification

A large, lizard-shaped reptile with a long, muscular tail and a narrow, tapering, triangular snout. The back and tail are grayish-green and the belly is white to yellowish. When the mouth is shut, the fourth tooth on each side of the lower jaw stays visible, giving a toothy, interlocking grin.

  1. 01Narrow snout. Long, pointed and triangular from above, not broad and rounded.
  2. 02Visible lower tooth. The fourth lower tooth shows on each side even with the mouth closed.
  3. 03Lighter color, salty water. Grayish-green rather than near-black, and usually in coastal brackish or salt water.

Commonly confused with

Alligators are darker, with a broad, rounded snout that hides the lower teeth when closed, and they mostly live in fresh water.

02

Size

02 ft4 ft6 ft8 ft10 ft12 ft14 ft Typical adult · about 10 ft (3 m) Largest wild males · about 14 ft

Breeding females are usually about 8 to 12 feet (2.4–3.7 m) long. Males grow larger and can reach about 20 feet, but wild crocodiles in Florida rarely exceed about 14 feet (4.3 m).

03

Range & habitat

Coastal mangrove shoreline and shallow bay in south Florida
Fig. 3 — Coastal bays and shorelines of extreme south Florida are the crocodile’s only US home.

In the United States, American crocodiles live only along the coast of south Florida, at the northern edge of their range. This is the only place in the country where crocodiles and alligators live side by side. Beyond Florida they occur in Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola, along both coasts of southern Mexico and Central America, and south to Ecuador on the Pacific side and Venezuela on the Atlantic side.

They live in coastal brackish and saltwater habitats such as bays, creeks and shorelines, while alligators are mostly found in fresh water.

04

Diet & predators

Young crocodiles eat small fish, snails, crustaceans and insects. Adults feed mostly at night on fish, crabs, turtles, snakes and small mammals.

Feeds on

  • Fish
  • Crabs
  • Turtles and snakes
  • Small mammals

Preyed on by

  • People (the only real threat to adults)
  • Raccoons (eggs, hatchlings)
  • Birds (hatchlings)
  • Crabs (hatchlings)
School of small coastal fish in shallow water
Prey — fish.
Raccoon foraging along a shoreline
Predator — raccoon (nests and hatchlings).

05

Behavior & seasons

American crocodiles are shy and secretive, and conflicts with people are rare. Like all reptiles they rely on outside heat: they bask in the sun or move between warmer and cooler water to control their body temperature. Basking with the mouth wide open is a way to shed heat, not a sign of aggression.

A relaxed crocodile slips into the water quietly. A loud, splashing retreat means it was startled and stressed. Give basking crocodiles plenty of room and enjoy them from a distance.

06

Reproduction

Females nest in holes or mounds of sand and soil on raised, well-drained ground above the high-water line, since eggs cannot survive more than about 12 hours of flooding. A clutch holds 20 to 60 eggs, which incubate for about 85 days and hatch in late July or early August. Incubation temperature sets the sex of the young: about 88–91°F produces mostly males, and cooler nests mostly females. The mother may dig open the nest and help the hatchlings to the water, but adults leave within a day or two and the young fend for themselves. Few hatchlings survive, but adults can live 50 to 70 years.

07

Conservation

The American crocodile was listed as endangered in 1975, when only a few hundred remained in Florida and just 10 to 20 nests were found each year. Protection, habitat purchase and recovery work turned that around. On March 20, 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reclassified the Florida population from endangered to threatened. Crocodiles in the rest of the range remain listed as endangered.

Florida now has more than 100 nests a year and an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 crocodiles, not counting hatchlings, and the state also lists it as threatened. Remaining threats include coastal development, changes to water flow and salinity in Florida Bay, nests that flood or dry out, and more run-ins with people as the population grows. See our endangered reptiles tool.

Keep reading

Sources

Data updated October 2026 · How we build these pages