natgeo Video: @tbfrost | Please see link in my profile to read…

natgeo Video: @tbfrost | Please see link in my profile to read…

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Sep 16, 2017 at 7:33am PDT

natgeo Video: @tbfrost | Please see link in my profile to read the entire Australia crocodile conservation story on the National Geographic Magazine website.
I’ve shared this video before, and while many of you have seen it many of you have not – and nonetheless , it is worth re posting to remind the world that crocodiles are – I think anyways – the best designed animal on the planet. Their jaws slam shut with incredible power, anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 pounds per square inch, perfect for grabbing prey and holding on and crushing bone. Across their legs and backside they have both osteoderms and scutes. The osteoderms are a bone filled scale that forms an almost impenetrable armor. The scutes, also formed with bone, help protect the crocodile but, as one of my instagram followers reminded me, serve another purpose: their design and formation on the back of the crocodile create cross currents that cancel each other out which is why when they swim it barely disturbs the surface of the water. And then we have their tails, pure muscle so strong it can propel a crocodile completely out of the water! like this one on the Adelaide river in the Northern Territory of Australia.