Salted crocodile vs shark who wins. Saltwater crocodile vs great white shark. Locations and causes of collisions

For a crocodile in this case, the temperature of the pool can be a deadly problem. For most species it should be between 20-38°C. The white shark, as a likely victim, he will ignore, as he chooses the animal with which he can somehow cope. And he lives in fresh water(although there are species that can tolerate salt).

The white shark, on the other hand, lives in the salt water of the ocean and coastal waters. And the temperature of its range is much lower - 12-24 °C. In general, the tolerable temperature spectrum is wider, from cold seas to the tropics, but we are still talking about the usual.

Bloody encounters between sharks and crocodiles are not uncommon. Proof of this is the image of the battle of a crocodile and a shark on the coat of arms of the city of Surabaya. The main antagonists are a combed crocodile, which can swim far into the sea, and a shark of comparable size, due to its aggressiveness.

But the crocodile has more powerful jaws, grip strength and teeth have roots. With equal sizes, in addition, the crocodile will have more weight due to the presence of the skeleton.

Anaconda is more difficult. A lot depends on chance. The crocodile will be lucky to grab it with its jaws - perhaps with its favorite twisting it will manage to tear out a piece of flesh, at least enough to weaken and prevent the snake's body from wrapping around it. And if the anaconda has time to "wrap" the reptile, then that's it, it will break the bones and push it inside, there are enough such videos.

I'm afraid that in the end, one of the three remaining will jump onto the edge of the pool and get a dessert in the form of a pool worker who drove the three of them into this death trap. And then they will shoot another ... tenth Hollywood movie horror.

Everyone will calmly wait for more familiar food to appear. A crocodile is something that is smaller than its size, an anaconda is something that can swallow (again, what smaller). The great white shark will wait for blood markers (blood) to appear in the water. Most likely, both the anaconda and the crocodile will not challenge the right to prey from the white shark if it is interested in it. I think every predator will wait for his own food until he faints, and not fight like spiders in a jar.

"A crocodile is that which is smaller in size."

In fact, crocodiles calmly attack animals not just larger, but much larger than themselves.

He (Kermit) also shot a 12-foot (3.6 m) crocodile. The ugly, formidable beast kept in its stomach sticks, stones, cheetah claws, impala hooves, large eland bones and fragments of the shell of one of the largest river turtles; apparently, he took a fee from among his fellow inhabitants of the river, or from among the creatures who came to quench their thirst. He didn't care if the animals were pastured or harvested for fresh flesh, he just hunted them. (Roosevelt writing from Guaso Nyiro, pp. 286-287.)

The conventional wisdom that crocodiles do not prey on waterbucks has been unequivocally refuted by our observations in the Kruger National Park, and as Table 6 shows, waterbucks are one of the most common warm-blooded prey species in the diet of crocodiles. An important part of the diet of crocodiles are impalas, as well as kudu and bushbucks. We happened to observe how an adult male giraffe, intending to cross the Olifants River, suddenly stumbled, fell and was dragged into the water by a large crocodile. An adult male buffalo was seized at a water hole in Nyavutsi by a fourteen-foot crocodile and drowned after a terrible struggle. Over the years, only two cases of crocodile predation on hippo cubs have been recorded, however, there have been several cases of hyenas, hyena dogs and even lions being killed by crocodiles.
Table 6. List of sightings of animals killed by crocodiles in the Kruger National Park between 1936-1946 and 1954-1966.
1936-1946: 80 impalas, 1 zebra, 21 waterbucks, 7 kudu, 2 buffaloes, 1 warthog, 2 wading goats, 2 duikers, 1 nyala, 1 stenbuck, 3 bushbucks, 2 bush pigs, 1 baboon, 1 wild dog. Total: 125.
1954-1966: 163 impalas, 7 zebras, 4 wildebeests, 41 waterbucks, 22 kudu, 2 buffaloes, 2 giraffes, 3 warthogs, 3 wading goats, 3 nyalas, 1 stenbuck, 21 bushbucks, 1 jumping antelope, 2 hippos ( cubs), 2 hyenas, 1 lion, 1 baboon, 1 vervet, 1 porcupine. Total: 280.

"Once I saw a crocodile attack and really overcome the resistance of a bull buffalo. I watched a reptile lying on a sandy shore with a huge open mouth, his feathered friends are probably the only ones he has. However, the crocodile refused to brush his teeth when a herd of buffaloes came down to drink. Instantly and silently the crocodile slipped into the water, and I wondered with surprise whether he would attack such a large herd. Six cows were drinking at the very edge, and the bull went deeper and buried his head in the water, before I saw another sign of the reptile's presence.Then a whirlpool of water swept at lightning speed, and the bull tossed its head with the crocodile in its muzzle.His position on the low bank slope no doubt helped the Croc, and inch by inch he dragged the bull closer to suddenly, with great effort, the buffalo broke free, but before he could move a distance, the "croc" grabbed his paw. Down his head dropped, and the horns raised the "half" of the crocod silt from the water and put it on the sand. But the effort cost the buffalo its position. He knelt down, and at the present moment the crocodile grabbed his nose again. Then I shot at the reptile, the crocodile loosened its grip and soon disappeared under the water. I was hoping I could get it. But in the future, I could not get the carcass. Before the bull could get up, I shot him too to inspect the wounds. Looking at the nose, I found that the crocodile's huge maw had crushed the bones into mush, the flesh, like that of the paw, was torn and dangling away. It seemed incredible that such a deadly strength and ferocity of a crocodile could have developed from a creature that, perhaps a hundred and fifty years ago, emerged from an egg; and which began its life as a lizard about six inches long!"

Giraffe killed by crocodiles:

A wild African buffalo struggled to take its last breath before being dragged underwater by a Nile crocodile in Kazinga Channe, Uganda, Africa. The relationship between predator and prey. African buffalo(Syncerus caffer) is one of the African Big Five. They are often seen in large herds and joint protection of relatives (strength in numbers).

This is the first evidence that came to mind. Well, there are many such cases. And this is precisely with successful attacks, but there are also unsuccessful ones. Crocodiles are highly specialized hunters big booty.

To answer

Comment

First of all - depending on which crocodile to take. The combed or Nile crocodile will bite both the white shark and the anaconda. Especially the last one. Indeed, in fact, no 10-meter snakes exist and did not exist, with the exception of a number of extinct species today. The largest green anacondas reach about 5.5-6 meters in length and weigh up to about 100 kg, while the largest modern combed crocodiles can weigh up to about 1750 kg with a length of up to 7 meters, and white sharks - more than 2.3 tons with a length of not less than 6.1 meters.
And the so-called "videos with the victories of anacondas over crocodiles", which were mentioned here, actually demonstrate the eating of "harmless" crocodile or Yakar caimans by snakes. And those are usually smaller than the anacondas themselves in size. But the point here is not even in "more or less", but in the fact that the caiman is far from being a crocodile of the same size. In fact, young crocodiles calmly eat caimans of their size when kept together in captivity. Whether the anaconda will be able to cope with the crocodile of the same size, or will be bitten by it in half - this is another question. Whatever it was, but even if a 100 kg anaconda can compete on equal terms with an approximately 3-meter 100 kg crocodile, then it simply has no chance against a larger one. Against a shark, I think she will have more chances, since the body of a shark is devoid of bones and can easily be flattened by squeezing the anaconda rings. But not against a 2-ton shark.)

As for the white shark, although it is larger than the saltwater crocodile, the sharks themselves are frankly bad fighters. They live off the opportunistic eating of carrion, fish, cephalopods, and only sometimes young or weakened by old age / diseases marine mammals. Don't fall for the common and misleading discussion that "white sharks specialize in feeding on seals". It's a myth from documentaries that there's nothing else to show but seasonal baby shark feeding. sea ​​lions. Sharks have extremely primitive physiology: in particular, the kidneys are practically disabled and waste products accumulate in the blood until they themselves flow through the rectal glands and gills. And this is strong (and by no means in better side) affects endurance, strength of muscle contractions, coordination of movements and nervous system in general, which in sharks are already not very well developed. The cartilaginous skeleton, even with proper calcination, cannot attach such powerful muscles to itself as even thin bones bony fish, not to mention the powerful skeletons of such developed higher vertebrates as crocodiles. The same applies to the jaws: the cartilaginous jaws of sharks are also very unstable to stress and deform easily. The jaws of young white sharks do not allow them to cope even with seal pups without risk, without literally risking their head. At big sharks in the process of ontogenesis, this disadvantage is partly compensated by an increase in the calcium content in the cartilage of the jaws. But, I emphasize - only partly. Being ordinary modified scales, shark teeth do not have roots and easily fall out of the gums even from small loads. And them a large number of may not always compensate. I say right away sharks don't bite through shells sea ​​turtles - this is also a myth based on the study of the contents of the stomachs of sharks and the finds of the carcasses of unfortunate turtles with traces of shark teeth. But only the tortoise shell softened by water becomes very fragile, especially if it is some kind of leatherback or Australian turtle. green turtle. And pieces of shells of sea turtles in the stomachs of sharks, in addition to eating carrion that has kneaded in the water, can also fall as a result of swallowing turtles whole: in this way, by the way, snakes and monitor lizards eat turtles that do not have sufficient bite force to open the shells. No one has ever seen a shark swim up and gnaw through the shell of a fresh turtle, and I guarantee you that. But there are more than enough videos where large tiger sharks bite the tails, heads and flippers of turtles, but cannot do anything with the shell. And although protective function in the osteoderms of large crocodiles, it is frankly secondary; it will be very difficult for a shark to bite through the thick skin of a crocodile. Even the belly of a crocodile, whose vulnerability is invented and imposed by the pseudo-documentary program "animal battles", is in fact reinforced not only with quite a decent skin (comparable in strength to buffalo and going to elite leather products), but also with a large layer of muscles with abdominal ribs. Finally, sharks are frankly cowardly: the white shark is the only large predator, from which people regularly fight off with their bare hands. Moreover, there are cases when people survived after attacks even by 5.5-6 meter sharks. Again, since white sharks are by no means specialists in eating fat seals, you should not think that people are not to their liking. The shark will eat any meat available to it, it is an opportunistic predator: in the stomachs of white sharks, they found bivalves, herring, small squid, sea turtles, rats, the remains of unidentified land animals, in one case even found a 1.2-1.5 meter Australian narrow-nosed crocodile. These animals are by no means less "appetizing" than humans, but white sharks eat them with pleasure. In the end, the same polar bear is a much bigger specialist in fatty foods. But this does not prevent him from considering people as food ... And even if you do not dwell on the low fatality of shark attacks on people, then the same seals, as a rule, also survive after shark bites. It is easier to find photographs of shark-injured seals recovering from damage on the beach than to find cases of successful white shark predation on adult pinnipeds. White sharks are not hunters of large prey, and they do not suppress the resistance of even relatively small prey.
Therefore, I do not think that the saltwater crocodile will have any problems killing a primitive and frankly shy white shark. After all, many successful attacks by crocodiles on a variety of sharks have been recorded. Salted crocodiles are extremely aggressive - males defending food or territory often rush even to helicopters (seemingly very "terrible" because of the noise and size of unfamiliar objects) rangers. But most importantly, unlike sharks, crocodiles regularly fight with each other and are able to suppress the resistance of even a large and well-armed victim (after all, successful attacks of crocodiles are known even on big cats). They handle large animals with ease, and some individuals in Australia's tea swamps even specialize in taking adult Asian water buffaloes. The white shark and the saltwater crocodile are, let's say, animals from two completely different "leagues", despite the weight superiority of the shark.

So I propose to complicate the question: what happens if you put a plesiosuchus, a plesiotylosaurus, a liopleurodon, a large combed crocodile and a full-grown male walrus in one pool?

Of course, in this case, he will not be a priority fighter. But of the marine mammals of this size, only the walrus can do something:

"One can hardly speak of any serious food competition between walrus ami and polar bears, even taking into account the fact that walrus and from time to time also feed on carrion - for example, the corpses of whales. In the hungry months of the polar winter, whale carcasses are the main food for all the inhabitants of the Arctic, from gulls and ravens to arctic foxes, wolves and bears. Robert Brown notes that stomachs walrus her, killed near skinned whale carcasses, are invariably stuffed with whale meat. Walrus and sometimes they even kill small ringed seals - as we already know, the main prey polar bear. It is possible that they do not disdain and sea ​​hares. Pedersen says seals are afraid walrus to her and avoid places of their haul-outs. Freichen says that the herds walrus She usually drives the seals out of the bays where they spend the summer months.
We have no reason not to believe the stories about how the Eskimos are fishing north of Baffin Land. walrus her on the edge of the ice floes; they dip a piece of seal oil into the water in the hope that walrus, attracted by the bait, will grab it and try to drag it under water; but because walrus cannot eat a piece under water, he must pull it out onto the ice, and here it becomes the prey of the hunter. They say that, noticing black spots - seals lying on the ice, walrus and break through the ice from below to get to them. According to Pedersen, the walrus deliberately hollowed out the ice floe, trying to split it under the feet of a man. Eskimos from the Hudson Strait say that in the fall, when they track walruses at the holes, the walruses, noticing the place where the hunter is standing, dive and then begin to break the ice under him.
Frederick Jackson, who lived for about four years in the southeast of Franz Josef Land at the end of the last century, as well as one of Haig-Thomas's companions, were attacked by a walrus right on an ice floe: the walrus leaned out of the water and tried to hit with tusks. K. Kollevey, a member of the German expedition that landed on the northwestern coast of Greenland in 1869, wrote: “We were hardly making our way along the path among the treacherous ice fields and suddenly saw a walrus: it broke through the ice from below very close to us and frightened us with its unexpected We ran as fast as we could, but the walrus did not leave us - with great speed it swam after us under water, breaking the ice under our feet. and the flapping of the monster's flippers accompanied us all the way, until at last we got out onto the old ice, where the pursuer left us alone.
If suddenly a group of people from the ship frightens a seal and a walrus lying on an ice floe not far from the hole, then the walrus, which moves faster on land than the seal, will be the first to reach the saving vent. But instead of going around the seal peacefully, the walrus purposely hits him on the back with his tusks; this unexpected manifestation of aggressiveness is certainly a consequence of fear. Usually walruses hunt seals in the water. Pedersen twice saw a walrus chase and then kill a young ringed seal. And the Eskimos from the shores of Cumberland Bay told Gantzsh that more than once they watched walruses catch seals in the water, grabbing them with flippers and then stabbing them with tusks. The Eskimos of Pond Inlet tell the same story.
In the pools of the New York Aquarium, they constantly measure the speed at which walruses of different species swim. age groups. The maximum throwing speed does not exceed 7-9 kilometers per hour, and the normal cruising speed is only three and a half kilometers. In the wild, walruses make 10-13 kilometers per hour, and the slowest of the seals - at least 15-20 kilometers. Therefore, it is not surprising that walruses hunt only for young seals. However, assuming that walruses swim much faster in the sea than in a pool (and we know that they overtake even fast-moving belugas), one cannot but admit that seals in the water are much more mobile than walruses. Therefore, when hunting seals, the walrus, like a bear, swims on its back and dives under the seal at the moment when the seal sticks its head out of the water to breathe. Having clasped him with flippers, the walrus strikes with tusks, cutting open the chest of the seal. Then, holding his prey with flippers in the same way as a walrus holds a puppy, the male walrus swims with it to the nearest ice floe, throws the carcass onto the ice and climbs out himself. There he rips open the seal with tusks and greedily swallows large pieces of skin with fat. It is possible that he uses his whiskers for this operation. Observations show that in captivity a walrus, tearing off pieces of meat from a seal carcass, helps itself with vibrissae. Especially walruses love to feast on soft seal fat: a small distance between the tusks sitting on both sides of its mouth does not allow it to swallow large pieces of meat. Therefore, it is not surprising that most of seal carcass is untouched. However, somehow Pedersen found a whole flipper in the stomach of a walrus.
In those months when there is especially a lot of polar cod, walruses sometimes catch this fish too, crashing into schools and eating it in large quantities.
Predatory walruses are still an anomalous and rather rare phenomenon. Fei believes that in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, there is hardly one male predator per thousand walruses. But still they exist and are much more common than is commonly thought. In the stomachs of walruses, young narwhals were found more than once, as well as the skin and fat of a whale. There is even the only evidence of how two walruses attacked a whale from two sides, which defended itself with its tail. Apparently, whales avoid entering waters where there are walruses. Famous polar explorer early XIX century, William Scoresby Jr. observed many times in the Norwegian and Greenland seas how walruses devour narwhals. Eskimos from the Simpson Strait told William Schwatka that walruses often attack porpoises. The Englishman Robert Grey, skipper of a whaling ship that entered the waters of the Norwegian Sea in 1890, wrote: “Standing on the bridge, I noticed some object in the dark water over which birds were circling. Having lowered the boat into the water, we saw that it was a narwhal , completely covered with wounds, his belly was almost eaten away. The culprit of the crime - a huge walrus, was sleeping peacefully nearby on a fragment of an ice floe. "
Twelve years before this message, Gray's father, whose ship was in the Greenland Sea 275 miles from the coast of Svalbard, writes in the ship's log: "Moving north through ice fields and drifting ice, this morning I saw ahead of some object that at first I took it for the shaft of a hand harpoon. The water around it was oily, and several birds were sitting nearby. At first I thought it was a dead whale, but then I saw that it was the tusk of a narwhal. When we got closer, I noticed something in the water near it brown and wondered for a while what it could be, but soon I realized that it was a walrus, tightly clinging to a narwhal.
When we got quite close, I sent two boats and ordered to throw a hand harpoon at the narwhal and shoot from the harpoon gun at the walrus. The blow of the first harpooner fell at the very nose of the walrus. The walrus became furious and released the narwhal, which immediately began to sink. The walrus obviously did not want to part with the prey, and, diving, he pulled the narwhal to the surface. Wrapping his flippers around him, he sank his teeth into him again.
At this time, the second boat approached, the harpooner fired from the cannon directly into the neck of the walrus, and he finally released the narwhal. The walrus dragged the boat along the wind for quite some time until a shot from a gun in the back of the head killed him.
After examining the carcasses, we found that the narwhal was missing the insides, and most of the belly was eaten or torn apart by the walrus, which selectively chose the pieces, apparently having spent a lot of time on the meal. He ate the fat from the skin as cleanly as if it had been scraped off with a knife. The narwhal was recently killed, in a deadly fight, the walrus wounded him with fangs from nose to tail. The walrus itself was intact. It had a three-inch-thick layer of fat on it, and its stomach was stuffed with sealskin and chunks of freshly eaten narwhal meat. According to our rough estimate, there were at least fifteen gallons of blubber in his stomach.
The narwhal was about fourteen feet long, not counting the tusk, and nine feet in girth. The tusk was five feet long.
The walrus was eleven feet long and nine feet ten inches in girth.
How, one wonders, did the walrus manage to keep such a powerful beast as the narwhal? Narwhal in his native element feels much freer than a walrus, and can leave with a harpoon entrenched in him, unwinding a hundred-foot whale line.
This is the only explanation I can think of: the walrus caught the narwhal while he was sleeping, dived under him and, thrusting his tusks into his belly, wrapped his flippers around him. In this position we found them, with the only difference being that the walrus was now on top."

Such a question may seem strange, and in fact both species of animals did intersect with each other on the Malaysian islands and the northern Australian coast. About who is stronger, it is worth talking about the example of a great white shark and a saltwater crocodile, which have met repeatedly with each other in nature.

What is a shark capable of?

Sharks don't defend their territory, their offspring, or even their food source.

In order to understand who is stronger, let's analyze the features and capabilities of the white shark. The record size of a white shark is 6 m in length, and the recorded weight is about 2 thousand kg. Average weight shark is about 1 thousand kg with a length of about 4.5 m. The bite force of a shark can reach 1800 kg / cm 2.

Shark Encounter Ends Yearly lethal outcome for about 15 people.

Since sharks mainly feed on small fish And marine life, they are not accustomed to prey of large sizes, which also resist, so the shark attacks relatively slowly and is unable to hold a resisting prey for a long time.

What is a crocodile capable of?

Salted crocodiles exhibit high level intolerance and aggression in case of encroachment on their territory

The maximum recorded size of the combed crocodile is 6 m and weighs about 1.5 thousand kg. Therefore, these parameters in animals are approximately the same. At the same time, the bite force of the crocodile, which was recorded, amounted to more than 2000 kg/cm 2 . So, according to this indicator, the crocodile turned out to be much stronger.

Approximately 2,500 people die each year from crocodiles.

Who is stronger

Excellence in combat experience, tactics and weaponry, make the saltwater crocodile too difficult an adversary for the great white shark

It is almost impossible to fend off the predatory throw of a crocodile. It outperforms the shark in the following ways:

  • The attack is faster. Crocodiles are accustomed to large resisting and fast-running prey, and the jaws have enough power and endurance to hold the prey for a long time.
  • The reaction is much faster. Crocodiles have a viewing angle of 270 °, a powerful curving spine and sensitive receptors, all of which are poorly developed in a shark.
  • Maneuverability is higher. The muscles of the crocodile are most adapted to water conditions, and shark muscles are very primitive.
  • More teeth. They are up to 10 cm long, thicker and more powerful than the five-centimeter shark fangs.

The chance of surviving a shark attack on a person is estimated at 86%, a crocodile - only 32%.

When meeting a combed crocodile and a white shark, the second one will obviously not be good, since the crocodile is much stronger than it.

The great white shark is the largest predatory fish, reaching a length of 6 meters, and weighs up to 2 tons. Is the strongest poisonous fish. This predator owes its name to white color ventral part of the body, broken border on the sides separated from the dark back. In addition to its very large size, the great white shark has also gained the infamous fame of a merciless cannibal due to the numerous attacks on swimmers, divers and surfers that have taken place. The great white shark is the only surviving species of its genus Carcharodon. The body of a great white shark is spindle-shaped, streamlined, like most sharks - active predators. A large, conical head with medium-sized eyes and a pair of nostrils located on it, to which small grooves lead, increasing the flow of water to the shark's olfactory receptors. The mouth is very wide, armed with sharp triangular teeth with notches on the sides. With teeth like an ax, the shark easily cuts off pieces of flesh from prey.The diet mainly consists of marine mammals. In addition, she preys on a variety of fish and seabirds.

Locations and causes of collisions

combed crocodile and white shark - the inhabitants of Australia. There were times when saltwater crocodiles swam hundreds of kilometers from the coast, and at such a distance, great white sharks are found. The reasons for their clashes may turn out to be hunger. However, in nature there will be no fight, since the shark will be afraid to attack the crocodile, and the crocodile does not fight on the high seas. Small sharks primarily view the saltwater crocodile as a potential threat. This is the most famous fight, and here we can only guess, studying the weak and strengths both opponents.

Known conflicts:

1. There was a case when a huge combed crocodile killed a bull shark. Everything was filmed by the British. Peter Jones, 62, was on a river cruise in national park Cockatoo in northern Australia. The steamer came across a bull shark being chewed by a saltwater crocodile. Seeing that he was being watched, the crocodile went under water along with his prey.


2. There was a case when a huge 5-meter sea crocodile tore in two a 3-meter bullish shark, not sixgill (wrong translation).

3. There was a case when the head of a 3.5 meter crocodile lay on the shore. No one knows who it is, but there is evidence that a great white shark did it. These shark testimonies are very unlikely, because any shark, in fact, does not have enough strength to bite through all the bones that were in the crocodile, and the shark simply cannot fit this whole part of the Nile crocodile. However, first of all, it was Nile crocodile, and Nile crocodiles live only in Africa, they have never, in the entire history, been found in salty waters, from where the head of the Nile crocodile swam ashore. So the most likely evidence in this battle was poachers, not a shark. But despite the fact that this evidence is very unlikely, we decided to show this case. The site that will describe this will be an incredible exaggeration of the white shark, because the head of the Nile crocodile that lived in Africa could not get into the salt waters, and it was a Nile crocodile, not a saltwater one, as indicated on the site.

4. There was a case of how a combed crocodile easily coped with bull shark almost equal in size. Below, an excerpt from the documentary "Invasion of the Crocodiles", where this fight was filmed. In the same documentary the quality is much better.

5. There was a case of a saltwater crocodile easily killing a great white shark of almost equal size. In this case, the crocodile used killer whale tactics. "A 20-foot crocodile grabbed the shark by the throat and began a 'death roll'. Once upside down, the shark could no longer do anything.
Salted crocodile tore off the throat and head of a great white shark with its jaws. "The case was also described as a crocodile killed a tiger shark. A link to this double case is provided below in the source.

The main mistakes when comparing

The fact is that the combed crocodile holds its breath for 2 hours (with active movement for 30 minutes), and this is much more than the whole fight lasts. Therefore, a crocodile cannot come to the surface specifically for oxygen. But if the crocodile swims for oxygen, then whatever it is, the shark will not be able to attack it because of the sensitivity of the crocodile. The crocodile will simply dodge. So don't believe Animal battles", they have a similar impossible fiction that a black bear can turn over a Mississippi alligator.

Let's study the weaknesses of opponents:

Shark: belly, fins, gills, cowardice, tail, brittle teeth, nose.

Crocodile: belly, stamina, poor clinging teeth.

Advantages:

Shark: stamina, food madness, sharp teeth, speed, tactics, camouflage.

Crocodile: aggression, jaw power and bite, agility, armor, reaction, vitality, muscle grouping.

Animal Comparison

1. Size is approximately equal

Crocodiles grow up to 6.7 meters, and white sharks - approaching this size grow up to 6.1 meters. The choice is obvious, the crocodile is longer than the shark.

2. Weight - per shark

White sharks (record) weigh up to 2 tons, which is more than saltwater crocodiles weigh (record) - 1635 kg. So weight is a shark's advantage.

3. Strength - for the crocodile

Crocodiles have "armor" that protects them from many things. After all, his armor consists of bone plates. Whether a white shark bites through a crocodile's armor or not, armor is still a very useful defense for a crocodile. Also, the shark has a little armor. She saves her in a small way, if you stroke a shark against the fur, then you will feel that you are stroking sandpaper. Of course, armor helps a crocodile better.

4. Speed ​​- per shark

Sharks are very fast, judging by their armor, and their movements. The crocodile is less adapted to swimming, because it does not spend its entire life in the water. Even in order to breathe, a shark needs to be constantly on the move, so you don’t even need to think about speed.

5. Fins - for the crocodile

The fact is that the shark has fins, but the crocodile does not, but if you think logically, then the fins in the fight with the crocodile will only interfere with the shark, and become another vulnerable spot.

6. Jaw - for the crocodile

7. Sensitivity - approximately equal

Crocodiles have hundreds of tiny receptors on their bodies that detect splashes of water at a distance of about 100 meters, and the approach of prey, including fish, at a certain distance. Crocodiles also have nerve cells, which feel the approach of its prey at a distance of a kilometer or more. The shark has a lateral line, which is more sensitive than all the sensitive organs of the crocodile. However, it won't do her any good. If the shark feels the crocodile before he does, then when she swims up to him, the crocodile herself will feel her, even if she does not notice her with her eyesight.

8. Tail - for the crocodile

Saltwater crocodiles break canoes in half with a blow of their tail, and sharks swim only thanks to their tail, especially since a shark's tail can become a vulnerable spot, because a crocodile's bite can easily break a shark's tail.

9. Muscle mass - per shark

The fact is that sharks move all their lives, even in their sleep. And crocodiles often pretend to be motionless. Not surprisingly, 600 kg. a 4 meter crocodile has 400 kg of muscle mass out of 600 kg. But since the shark is constantly in motion, it gains more muscle mass.

10. Skeleton - for the crocodile

The shark has a cartilaginous skeleton, while the crocodile has a bony skeleton. This gives him a significant advantage in many ways, including the strength of the bite. The fact that the cartilage makes an advantage to flexibility - will not play any role in the fight.

11. Gills - for the crocodile

12. Vitality - for the crocodile

Crocodiles are pierced through with spears, but crocodiles survive this and heal their wounds. Even if the skin is completely removed from the crocodile, the crocodile can live for 2-3 hours. When they tear off each other's limbs, then their pace does not slow down: his perfect circulatory system blocks the access of blood to the damaged area, eliminating the possibility of severe blood loss. Sharks at that time are also very tenacious - they suffer very severe wounds on the gills from their relatives, and survive with fins slightly torn off. But this vitality is small for a crocodile.

13. Disguise - for the shark

Shark coloring merges with water in the open sea, unlike crocodile. At that time, it will be easy for a shark to spot a crocodile due to its dark coloration, and the shark's lateral line itself. But the crocodile itself can also feel it with receptors, however, in the worst case, not see the shark. In addition, the shark camouflages itself in the depths and attacks from the depths, which can help the shark in a fight.

14. Reaction - for the crocodile

Crocodiles have super-fast myosin: the slightest touch to sensitive organs causes a lightning-fast response. The shark was also found to have super-fast myosin, but it is very slow for a crocodile.

15. Clinging teeth - for the shark

A shark has sharper teeth, a crocodile has dumber teeth. Therefore, the crocodile does not mesh its teeth well on the victim, and when the shark bites the victim, its teeth literally bite into the victim. Due to the fact that the crocodile has a longer jaw, they often slip off the victim.

16. Nose - for the crocodile

The fact is that the shark's nose is very sensitive, and is a weak point. Shark at that time the nose of a crocodile will not be able to do anything.

So who will win from the most formidable predators Australia, great white shark or saltwater crocodile? The choice is obvious, that in the maximum sizes, that in the same sizes, the crocodile will certainly win. Even in shallow water, even in the open sea, a shark always has one unlikely chance - to bite a crocodile on the side. The crocodile has many chances, for example, he can bite off the fins of a shark, or break her tail, he can also easily rip her belly open, or even tear off her jaw, or in any case, just bite her skull. Well, a crocodile can simply injure the gills of a shark, and the shark, after that, will not live long. Well, besidescrocodile grouping of muscles is more perfect than that of a shark, if in a fish all muscle work is aimed at jerking its head and moving forward, then in a crocodile - muscle mass distributed, which provides him with a large selection of movements. From that, and a lightning-fast 180-degree turn, the shark performs it more slowly, valuable in several movements, and the crocodile - in one go.

Conclusion: the crocodile has a great advantage in any element over the shark.

Let's try to imagine what the battle will be like in reality.

American alligators and sharks are known for their extreme eating habits. They are opportunistic predators that will not fail to plunge their greedy jaws into any potential prey they see. Including each other, says zoologist James Nifong from the University of Kansas (USA).

A Mississippi alligator chews on a nurse shark on Sanibel Island, Florida (USA). Photo: USFWS.

For the past ten years, Niphon has been studying Mississippi alligators in their freshwater homelands in the southeastern United States and has repeatedly seen various sharks swim there. He wondered if the crocodiles interact with their sea guests, if the greens manage to teach uninvited fish a lesson with punishing teeth. Digging through the scientific literature and consulting with experts, he learned of a number of confirmed cases of alligators devouring lemon sharks, small-headed hammerheads, baleen nurse sharks and stingrays. Estrogillary cartilaginous fish may be an important but underestimated food resource for alligators, Nifun said.

Meanwhile, such evidence is rare, and there are several reasons for this. First, alligators with sharks are not easy to track and observe in coastal habitats. Secondly, alligators devour relatively small sharks, which can not be identified from afar, mistaking them for some bony fish. Thirdly, the acidity in the stomachs of alligators is so high that any food, with the exception of hair or shells, dissolves very quickly there, especially cartilage, so it is not possible to identify the remains of sharks and rays in crocodile nausea or directly in the stomachs at autopsy.

Cases of meetings of crocodiles with elasmobranchs are also known from other parts of the world. IN South Africa, for example, the remains of two unidentified shark species were found in the stomach of the Nile crocodile. Salted crocodiles have been observed preying on blunt-nosed sharks in Australia, and a recent study documented crocodile bite marks on half of the surveyed sawfish rays in the west of the continent. Crocodiles love the meat of cartilaginous fish - the natives even use it in traps as bait for combed crocodiles.


An alligator swallows a small-headed hammerhead fish in St. Marks, Florida. Photo: Judy Cooke.

Nifun was able to find some interesting newspaper clippings of the 19th century, which tell about the battles of sharks with Mississippi alligators. So, in October 1877, hundreds of alligators, attracted by the abundance of fish formed after high tide in a bay near Jupiter, Florida, were attacked by hundreds huge sharks who also smelled potential food. According to an eyewitness, alligators with sharks “rose on the waves and gnawed like dogs”, after which the surf turned bloody, and then for several days the coast was littered for 80 miles with the corpses of headless and tailless alligators and sharks bitten in two - a real feast for vultures and buzzards! Perhaps the journalists The Fishing Gazette, exaggerated and embellished in places, but alligators and sharks do sometimes gather in large flocks in places where prey accumulates, so large-scale interspecific skirmishes cannot be ruled out. And in those days, their flocks were much more numerous than they are today, which increased the likelihood of such battles, Nifung adds.

Another story from Florida appeared in The Palatka Daily News in May 1884: a certain three-meter shark tracked down a two-meter alligator and attacked him, biting into his side and biting in half, after which "half of the defeated enemy disappeared into the deep throat of a predator." Yes, sharks are also not born with a bast and can kick crocodiles! Moreover, this enmity has been going on for millions of years, at least since the late Cretaceous: Fossil bones of crocodiles with bite marks from ancient sharks have been found in northeastern Mali. However, predatory shark aggression against sinister reptilians is relatively rare these days, and such evidence often looks implausible, but the opposite cannot be said, Nifnuf notes. So far, the crocodiles seem to be winning.

Text: Viktor Kovylin. According to materials:

Who is stronger: shark or crocodile?

    Here the victory depends, as it were, on the shark itself. And victory depends on the crocodile itself.

    If the shark is turned over, it will fall asleep. This scientific fact. The truth is little known, except for killer whales.

    Everything that IGOR PROKHOROV 5.3K described is true, I have nothing to add to his words.

    And you do a search on the topic Shark vs. Crocodile. For example, here is good information on this topic http://www.akulizm.ru/akula-protiv/krokodil-protiv-akuly.html

    The shark has a very weakness, which few people know about: being turned over on her back, she very quickly falls into a stupor, as if falling asleep. Killer whales often use this. Swimming along the bottom and seeing the silhouette of a shark above, they grab it from below and immediately turn it over on its back. And after a few minutes, the shark falls asleep, after which the killer whale devours it. A person can handle it exactly the same way (I saw a video of a person in the pool grabbing an average shark, turning it on its back and it quickly fell asleep).

    If a crocodile grabs a shark and manages to turn it upside down, it can celebrate victory. A few years ago I found on the Internet interesting story one local resident from the shores of the Amazon. He witnessed a fight between two sharks and two (or three?) crocodiles. Sharks swam into the Amazon from the sea, probably looking for new places of prey and food. And local crocodiles came out to meet them. After a short fight, the sharks retreated.

    Who are you more afraid of? Personally, I am a shark.

    Do not have a more powerful body. The crocodile has a definite advantage in the armor on the back. But skilled people catch crocodiles with their bare hands. And try to catch a big, predatory shark with your hands?

    I don’t know how for me it’s impossible to compare them at all, each is strong in its own way and each has its own habits, strength, abilities, etc. it's the same as comparing an elephant and a giraffe, that one has a weight and that one has a length! As for me, both animals are strong!

    In any family there are very strong individuals. Such individuals are found both in the family of crocodiles and in the family of sharks. And besides, both predators are very strong. Therefore, in my opinion, it is more correct to divide the victory fifty-fifty.

    Both are very strong, but it seems to me that the crocodile, if it grabs it, will break all the bones, because when it grabs, it sharply lights its prey in the water, and went to the bottom, although sharks are much larger, which may not have enough strength for this, and the crocodile has very strong scales, which are very difficult to pierce or bite through, if you only get to the stomach, although the sharks themselves are very strong and dexterous, but it seems to me that the crocodile is stronger, I'm not an ace, I just think so)))

    Here, after all, the answer lies in who bites whom first. If the crocodile grabs and starts spinning around its axis, then the shark simply will not survive this damage. And if the shark, in turn, bites off the head of the crocodile, then the headless crocodile will also have trouble in the future.

    If you think about it, it seems to me that the shark will be stronger, she and large sizes than a crocodile, and her mouth is bigger 🙂 Or maybe a crocodile, since a shark is good only in water, and a crocodile is good both in water and on land.



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