9781422275016

that we are at the top of the evolutionary ladder, and most of us live far from the pos- sibility of being eaten by some sort of wild creature. It was not always so. At one time, our ancestors were high on the list of prey species eaten by many of the large predators. Lions, tigers, bears, sharks, and crocodiles then, and occasionally today, consumed humans. The adrenaline charge that allowed our ancestors to escape these predators and survive is now gotten vicariously through the media coverage given to modern-day

incidents by the newspapers and television newscasts. People are fascinated with that which scares them. Actually, only a few species of these giant lizards ever become man-eaters; most do everything possible to avoid all contact with people. However, there is so much doc- umented evidence of attacks on people by those few species that people assume all of these large reptiles are man-eaters. It is in an attempt to set the record straight that this book has been written.

The Indo-Pacific, or saltwater, crocodile can function equally well in either saltwater or freshwater environments. Although they are usually found in coastal regions, they sometimes stray inland, going as far as 50 kilometers (31 miles) up freshwater rivers.

Cuvier’s dwarf caimans are the smallest members of the crocodilian family in the New World. They are found in the northern half of South America and seldom exceed 1.6 meters (5 feet) in length.

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