Animal profile

Central African Slender-snouted Crocodile

Mecistops leptorhynchus

ReptiliaForest rivers, lagoons and swamp forest

Field profile

This is the Central African counterpart of the slender-snouted crocodile, formally separated in 2018. It occupies Congo basin forest rivers, growing to around four metres, and feeds mainly on fish. It is less immediately imperilled than its West African relative but poorly surveyed across much of its range.

Published field notes

2026-07-19

Central African Slender-snouted Crocodile

The evidence for this species sat in museum drawers

The Central African slender-snouted crocodile was separated from its West African relative in 2018, using skull measurements from historical museum specimens alongside modern genetics. A name proposed in the nineteenth century was resurrected for it.

Read with evidence →