NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Marsh crocodile
Crocodylus palustris Lesson, 1831
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), Gal Oya Reservoir, Sri Lanka
Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from south-eastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marshes, lakes, rivers and artificial ponds. It rarely reaches a body length of 5 m (16 ft 5 in) and is a powerful swimmer, but also walks on land in search of suitable waterbodies during the hot season. Both young and adult mugger crocodiles dig burrows to which they retreat when the ambient temperature drops below 5 °C (41 °F) or exceeds 38 °C (100 °F). Females dig holes in the sand as nesting sites and lay up to 46 eggs during the dry season. The sex of hatchlings depends on temperature during incubation. Both parents protect the young for up to one year. They feed on insects, and adults prey on fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. The mugger crocodile evolved at least 4.19 million years ago and has been a symbol for the fructifying and destructive powers of the rivers since the Vedic period.
Wikipedia contributors, Mugger crocodile; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:49:02.738828+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Crocodylus palustris Lesson, 1831
- Name authority
- Lesson, 1831
- Common name
- Marsh crocodile
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Crocodylia
- Family
- Crocodylidae
- Genus
- Crocodylus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderCrocodylia
- familyCrocodylidae
- genusCrocodylus
- speciesCrocodylus palustris Lesson, 1831
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Crocodylus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hall’s New Guinea CrocodileCrocodylus halli Murray, Russo, Zorrilla & Mcmahan, 2019 | CrocodylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Freshwater CrocodileCrocodylus johnstoni Krefft, 1873 | CrocodylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| American crocodileCrocodylus acutus Cuvier, 1807 | CrocodylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Orinoco crocodileCrocodylus intermedius Graves, 1819 | CrocodylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Philippine crocodileCrocodylus mindorensis Schmidt, 1935 | CrocodylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| New Guinea crocodileCrocodylus novaeguineae Schmidt, 1928 | CrocodylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Siamese crocodileCrocodylus siamensis Schneider, 1801 | CrocodylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| West African crocodileCrocodylus suchus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1807 | CrocodylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Crocodilus bombifrons Gray, 1844 Gray, 1844 | synonym |
| Crocodilus vulgarts var. indicus Gray, 1831 Gray, 1831 | synonym |
| Crocodilus trigonops Gray, 1844 Gray, 1844 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Crocodylus&species=palustris Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:ZKNN. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.