Crocodylus halli

Crocodylus halli, also known as Hall's New Guinea crocodile, is a special kind of crocodile that only lives on the island of New Guinea. You can find it in the southern part of the island, below the New Guinea highlands. This crocodile was named after Philip M. Hall, a scientist from the University of Florida. He was the first to carefully study and show that this group of crocodiles is different from others. Learning about animals like Crocodylus halli helps us understand how many different kinds of life exist in the world and how each species fits into its own special place.

Taxonomy

Hall's New Guinea crocodile used to be thought of as a group of the New Guinea crocodile, but studies of its genes and skull shape showed it is its own special kind of crocodile. These two types of crocodiles probably separated into different groups around 3 to 8 million years ago when the New Guinea highlands rose up, creating a barrier between them.

Below is a cladogram based on a 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data, as revised in 2021 after a paleogenomics study using DNA extracted from the extinct Voay. C. halli placement suggested in 2023 study by Sales-Oliveira et al.

Distribution

This crocodile lives in swamps, rivers, and lakes in the southern part of New Guinea. Sometimes, it can be found near places where rivers meet the sea, like the Fly River estuary. Crocodiles from Lake Murray have wider skulls than those from the Aramia River.

Behavior

This crocodile, called Hall's New Guinea crocodile, builds its nests during the wet season in New Guinea, which lasts from November to April. This is different from another crocodile in the area, which builds nests near the end of the dry season, from July to November.

In captivity

Scientists discovered that three crocodiles kept at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park were not C. novaeguinae as people thought. Instead, they were C. halli. This helped show important differences between the two crocodile types.

Commercial use

In the city of Merauke in South Papua, people use the skin of this crocodile to make leather crafts. These crafts are very valuable and known for their high quality.