This newly discovered crocodile species has soft skin

A newly discovered crocodile species in Central Africa has soft skin, unlike its parents. Previously, he was considered the same species as his counterpart in West Africa. Now scientists have found a way to explain why he has a soft skin, which makes him different from his western parents.

Scientists published their findings in the journal Zootaxa. the Mecistrops cataphractus The population, which resides in West Africa, is in critical danger of extinction. According to National Geographic, there are only about 500 animals left now that scientists have recognized their soft-skinned parents as a separate species.

The newly discovered crocodile species in Central Africa is scientifically known as Mecistops leptorhynchus, or the crocodile with slender muzzle. The scales of this species are smaller and softer and there is no bone core found on the skulls of other crocodile species.

Both species of crocodiles have been under the same name since 1835, but the author of the study, Matt Shirley, told Newsweek in an interview that scientists have not liked this classification for years. . The newly discovered crocodile species are found from Cameroon to Tanzania and scientists believe they have diverged from other crocodile species about 8 million years ago due to intense volcanic activity. Shirley told National Geographic that the large mountainous border resulting from this activity was dividing the two crocodile species.

"Basically, it involved me in 14 different African countries between 2006 and 2012, and I have not left the field since," he told Newsweek. "The field work was long paddling hours of thousands of [miles] browse the rivers in search of fangs to sample, travel great distances between the sites and the countries with which the local authorities must obtain a research authorization and an export authorization, not to mention new languages, new cultures and diseases such as malaria. "

Although Shirley has met malaria 16 times, he has not abandoned his research.

"Sometimes, the difficulties we face in the region are enough to give a break," he said.

Shirley also said that separating the specimens from each other while looking for discreet differences between them was "a very tedious job". The team had to do extra work because of the loss of the M. cataphractusholo specimen, which was originally used to mark the differences between the two species as early as World War II, according to National Geographic.

The new species classification will help organizations that protect endangered creatures to distinguish and better protect them. Shirley's team is working with West African governments to set up a breeding program and assist local conservation activities to support endangered species.

The newly discovered crocodile species and its parent M. cataphractus are not the only species in decline and approaching the brink of extinction. Scientists have recently discovered that extinction rates are outpacing the evolution, driven by human activities.