Did you know? Crocodiles hold the record for the heaviest reptiles on the planet today, reaching up to 1,200 kg (2,645 lb) – around the same as two small cars. 🚗🚗
But as you’ll see in our awesome new trailer for Guinness World Records 2020 - modern day crocodiles are tiny compared to the ones that were alive millions of years ago...
See if you can spot the colossal croc 👇👀🐊
Did you know? Some saltwater crocodiles can grow 7m (22 ft 11 in) long from snout to tail. Wow! 📏
The largest crocodile in captivity is Cassius (c. 100 years old), who measures 5.48 m (17 ft 11 in) – the equivalent of two ping-pong tables laid end to end. He resides at Marineland Melanesia wildlife park. The park is located on Green Island, which sits in the Great Barrier Reef – the world's longest reef.
The largest crocodile in captivity ever outsized even Cassius. Lolong lived up to his name with a total length of 6.17 m (20 ft 3 in). He sadly passed away in 2013.
However, if you think saltwater crocs are massive, wait till you hear about one of their ancient ancestors… 😨
The terrifying Sarcosuchus imperator (pronounced sar-co-sue-cuss) is estimated to have been 12.2 m (40 ft) long and 8 tonnes (17,600 lb). That made this colossal croc double the length of Lolong and around 7.5 times his weight. It’s little wonder that this mega-predator is sometimes dubbed “super-croc”.
Calculating the size of long-extinct creatures can be tricky, but these sizes are based on a Sarcosuchus skeleton that was excavated in Africa.
Excavate: to dig out material, in this case digging in the ground to find the skeleton. ☠🦕
Sarcosuchus lived 112 million years ago, the same time as Spinosaurus (pronounced spine-oh-saw-us) the largest carnivorous dinosaur who you may have seen in Jurassic World. 📺 🦕🦖
Sarcosuchus is actually a crocodyliform (pronounced croc-oh-dil-eh-form), not a crocodile, which explains the record for largest crocodyliform ever.
We know that it can be hard to wrap your head around the size of certain records… particularly our larger-than-life ones! To help with that, in Guinness World Records 2020 (out in early September 2019), we have gathered some of the most mind-boggling records and relocated them to the UK capital – the home of Guinness World Records' head office for 65 years.
