ExtinctZoo - The Crocodile That Shouldn't Exist

Episode Date: August 31, 2025

If you thought the Nile crocodile was scary, wait until you hear about the Cuban crocodile - hunter of megafauna, and galloper of lands.

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And the craziest part of all of this is that despite how unusual this animal is, it's basically unknown to 99% of the world. This is Crocodileus Rombifer, also known as the Cuban crocodile. It's not the biggest crocodile, with that honor going to the saltwater crocodile, nor is it the most widespread, with Nile Crocs having that covered. But it is possibly the smartest, and definitely one of the most aggressive, and according to mounting fossil evidence, may have used that aggression and intelligence to hunt down now extinct megafauna. And if that statement makes you uncomfortable, good, it probably should.

But to understand how a crocodile became a quote-unquote thinking predator, we need to go back, way back, like 25 million years ago back, as that is when the genus Crocodilus came to be, likely in Africa near the Oligocene-boundary, before the genus radiated outwards across the entire globe. And one branch of this expansion eventually reached the Americas. And somewhere along that journey, a population found itself in the Caribbean. And with that group now being situated on isolated islands that were nothing like the mainland, they evolved.

You see, these islands were not your typical tropical paradise. With fossil evidence from sites across the greater antilles, showing that Cuban crocodiles shared its home with creatures that make today's Caribbean fauna look like house pets, one of those being sloths. And we're not talking about just any sloths, but rather Sid the sloth, i.e. ground sloths, with some of them in the area, like Megalachnus rodents, possibly reaching weights up to 270 kilograms or almost 600 pounds, which is around the size of a male grizzly. And it wasn't just sloths, but also other behemots, like giant tortoises and at least

one species of giant rodent, the blonde-tooth giant Houtia, which weighed up to 200 kilograms or 440 pounds. So in other words, a rat the size of a gorilla. So clearly, this was essentially an evolutionary experiment in island gigantism, just with the added bonus of one very important participant, our good friend, the Cuban crocodile. If you're ever fortunate enough to observe a Cuban crocodile without losing any appendages, The first thing you'll notice is that it just looks plain wrong for a crocodile. Its scales are highly pronounced and bright colored, its legs are strangely longer and more

robust than what you would find in other species, and if you had x-ray goggles, you would notice that its femur and tibia have attachment points indicative of massive power, but not in a way that would help swimming, but rather what looks to be terrestrial locomotion. And then as a cherry on top, if you were somehow able to get close enough, you'd see the feet themselves also show a very peculiar thing that you would not find in any other crocodile, and that is dramatically reduced webbing, with the front limbs actually showing zero webbing. So in other words, all traits which you would not expect to see in an animal that lives in the

water, which thus begs the question of why. Well, if you're observant, you might have noticed that all those megafaunal animals I mentioned were actually terrestrial themselves and made up the largest herbivores in the area, meaning that they likely also made up the majority of its food. Thus, while the Cuban crocodile certainly lives in the water, the idea was, or is, that it is actually a terrestrial hunter, at least partially, and studies in the remains backed this idea, as carbon isotopic analysis of fossils reflect the fact that they hunted more terrestrial animals than ones that lived in or near the water. Now, this idea of a crocodile being

essentially a land predator might seem incredibly odd, but there is actually precedence for this, kind of. Every extant species, minus perhaps our friend here, is at most a semi-aquatic predator, but the key word here is extant, as there are species of crocodilians, and close relatives, who used to exist that would give even the Cuban crocodile a run for its money, with one even being an animal that actually lived at the same time, the Quincana, a species which inhabited Australia as early as 10,000 years ago, which also means that humans lived alongside it. However, unlike the Cuban crocodile, this was not a true crocodile, meaning not a part of crocodilis, but rather was a part of the clade mecosucane, who are unfortunately, or perhaps

fortunately, depending on how you look at it, now extinct. And then on top of that, there was even an entire order of crocodilomorphs who were about as terrestrial as a reptile can get. In other words, fully terrestrial. And this was the Sebechodei. Not only were these guys the metaphorical king of land crocs, they were also freaking massive, with the largest potentially weighing up to 3,700 pounds or 1,700 kilograms, which by the way also makes them one of the, if not the, largest terrestrial predators to have existed

after the dinosaurs. So the idea of another crocodile developing the ability to hunt on land is really not that surprising. But what is surprising is the fact that only 8% of you guys are subscribed. So if you're enjoying the video so far, hit that sub-button. But either way, the Cuban crocodile is the most terrestrial adapted crocodile currently alive. And this fact could also serve as a potential explanation as to why they are so aggressive, having had evolutionary pressures to lash out at animals near the shoreline. And let's just say, you would not want to get caught by one. as these guys can weigh more than 474 pounds or 250 kilograms, and have a bite force that

likely exceeds 5,000 newtons, meaning it bites harder than a spotted hyena, a mammal known for having one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom. And then to make matters worse, they not only have conical teeth designed for gripping, as other crocodiles do, but the Cuban crocodiles also sport blunt, molar-like teeth in the back of their jaws, which are specifically adapted for crushing. This dental arrangement came to be because it is optimized for processing hard-shell prey like giant tortoises, which were once quite abundant and made up a large portion of its prey. But don't get comfortable with that, because even though it is designed for crushing shells,

they would also work equally well for crushing bones. So in other words, if you're snatched, you're done so. And avoiding these guys is easier said than done, because while they are built like a tank, they move like reptilian surface-to-air missile. If you approach the water's edge, they have the terrible habit to protect. projectile launching themselves out of the water with their muscular tail, something which likely evolved to catch birds and arboreal mammals from overhanging tree branches. But if that wasn't enough to grab you, don't worry, because these guys can move.

Cuban crocodiles don't just walk on land, or even run, they freaking gallop, using a bounding gate more similar to a horse than a reptile, with all four feet leaving the ground simultaneously and thus leaving our boy fully airborne with each stride, and allowing them to reach speeds up to 22 miles per hour, or 35 kilometers per hour. Which to put that into perspective on how crazy that is, the average human can only sprint at about 15 miles per hour or 24 kilometers per hour, if even that. And Hussein Bolt's top speed is just 27 miles per hour or 43 kilometers per hour, making humanity's best sprinter at his very highest speed only 22% faster than a random tested crocodile.

And then if, or perhaps when, it caught you, there was no way in H.E. double hockey sticks, that you would be able to fight back. Because besides being a nearly 500-pound or 215-kilogram behemoth, these guys are also the most heavily armored crocodile in existence. So even if you did somehow of a knife, or even a sword, you'd still be screwed regardless. So to recap, these Cubanoes are terrifying, and I haven't even gotten to perhaps the scariest aspect of them all, their brains.

Now, crocodilians aren't stupid. They can respond to conditioned stimuli, they can remember, and they obviously can hunt. but they're not exactly what anyone would call intellectually flexible. Well, except that is the Cuban crocodile, who apparently did not get the memo. In captivity, these animals display behaviors that really should not be possible for a creature with a brain the size of a walnut. For one, individual Cuban crocodiles have been shown to learn commands,

and we're not just talking about hold food in the air and they jump type of commands, but rather actual pure verbal cues. In one particularly striking case, crocodiles at a facility were taught to respond onto their own names, and individually at that, meaning that if the handler said one name, only that individual crocodile would come forth. And then get this, they were also taught to wait as well, whereas the handler would place food in front of it and the crock wouldn't go after it until a specific command was given. And this might not sound that crazy, but let me put this in other terms. These are reptiles which have learnt and are responding to abstract human noises.

This not only displays a level of learning that we didn't think was possible, but also impulse control that suggests a degree of higher executive functioning, which is an important indicator of intelligence, and that's a cognitive leap that puts them in some pretty exclusive company, chiefly mammals and birds, two groups of animals known for their intelligence, and not exactly the peer group you'd want for a giant hypercarnivorous reptile that's been around for millions of years, which only makes this next part that much worse, their pack hunting. Now, to be honest, this has to be honest, this has to be a lot of, hasn't been studied in a scientifically rigorous manner. But according to at least anecdotal reports from zookeepers and animal handlers, the Cuban crocodile has shown behavior suggestive of cooperative

hunting, with some even believing that it was this that allowed the Cuban crocodile to effectively hunt the Caribbean megafauna it lived alongside. And if their seemingly heightened intelligence is to be believed, this very well could be the case. And so with both brawn and brains on their side, you would think they would be doing pretty well for themselves. And that would be half right, because they were. with emphasis on the past tense. As for all of its evolutionary innovations, the Cuban crocodile is now in serious trouble. This species once ruled an entire region, with fossil evidence placing them in the Bahamas, Cuba,

the Cayman Islands, and even as far as the Dominican Republic. And yet now, it only exists in two places. The Zapata Swamp in mainland Cuba, which is approximately 300 square kilometers or 115 square miles, and the Lanier Swamp on a Cuban island south of the mainland, which is just another 100 square kilometers or 38 square miles. That's it. In other words, the entire wild population of the species could fit in an area smaller than New York City. And so unsurprisingly, their numbers are absolutely depressing, with estimates suggesting

perhaps 3,000 to 6,000 individuals in Zapata and as low as a few hundred in Lanier. In other words, they're basically on a countdown to extinction, which thus begs the question, why? And the answer is the usual suspects, us. To be more exact, the specific reasons can generally be explained as habitat destruction with swamps being drained for agricultural reasons, hunting for skins and meat, and the introduction of non-native species. But there is also another threat that's potentially more insiduous than all of those combined.

And that's extinction through hybridization. You see, the Cuban crocodiles are very close relative, crocodilus, also known as the American crocodile. And as it so happens, they have overlapping ranges. But with the two sharing a home, they've also decided to share a bed, if you get what I mean. And this is not just a few isolated incidents of elopement, as genetic evidence has found that a whopping 49.1% of wild Cuban crocodiles showed evidence of hybridization with their American counterparts.

Now, this is not an issue just for the sake of genetic purity, but rather because each hybrid represents a dilution of the very traits that make Cuban crocodiles unique. their potential pack hunting behaviors, terrestrial adaptations, cognitive flexibility, etc. All of these are likely complex traits which could be lost with continued hybridization. Now this being said, all is not lost, and people are making an effort to save them through conservation efforts, such as breeding facilities, in order to reintroduce more specimens back into the wild. But of course, this crocodile just can't seem to catch a break.

And thus they do face some unique challenges, chief among them being again the hybridization issue. As I mentioned, about half of the wild crocodiles are hybrids. But as it so turns out, even the crocs carefully selected for their breeding facilities have also been contaminated, so to speak, with 16.1% showing genetic markers indicating hybrid ancestry. And then, even when pure Cuban crocodiles are born, they're not guaranteed to make it to adulthood, as Cuban crocodiles are notoriously aggressive, even to each other, and cannibalization is a very well-documented phenomenon. But, if they do manage to survive their family get-togethers, there's still a good chance they'll be killed by non-family members,

specifically non-native animals, with 145 crocodiles being killed by feral cats alone in one farm in 2022. But let's imagine they make it through all of that and are reintroduced back to the wild. Well then, there's still a non-zero chance that they'll get yoinked by some human and turned into a pet, with the best example of this being Fidel Castro himself. In 1978, Fidel Castro gifted a pair of Cuban crocodiles to Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Shatilov, with them being essentially a sign of friendship between communist nations. But eventually, Shatulov decided he could no longer take care of them, because apparently keeping apex predators isn't all that easy. And so off they went to the Moscow Zoo, who then eventually passed them on to Sweden's Gonson Aquarium in 1981, which fun fact I've actually

been to, and I've seen them. And the names of these crocs, Castro and Hillary. Hilarious, pun intended. But Cuban crocodiles are intelligent, and hearty creatures. And so even if they are kept in captivity for over 40 years, they still don't lose their edge. And in 2019, one of them reminded everyone exactly who they were dealing with when it attacked a man at a crayfish party held at the aquarium. Our guy had been holding his arm over the enclosure on accident while giving a speech. And a Cuban crocodiles are not that forgiving on mistakes, apparently. Because while thankfully the man did survive, his arm, sadly did not. But hopefully, unlike our friend's arm here, Cuban crocodiles will survive and make it in the long run.

And thus, we'll have glorious galloping crocodiles well into the future. Thanks for watching. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. Celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly, Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming,

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Till next time.