For more than 250 years, stories from early explorers described crocodiles as a common sight along the shores of the Seychelles. But after permanent settlers arrived in 1770, the island population disappeared rapidly. Within about 50 years, the crocodiles had been completely exterminated.
Now, scientists have finally uncovered the true identity of these vanished reptiles through a new genetic analysis. The study found that the Seychelles crocodiles were not a separate species, as some once suspected. Instead, they were the westernmost known population of the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), the world's largest living reptile and one of its most capable ocean travelers.
DNA Reveals the Origins of Seychelles Crocodiles
Researchers from Germany and the Seychelles investigated the evolutionary history of the saltwater crocodile by comparing DNA from modern animals with genetic material taken from historical museum specimens. The team analyzed mitochondrial genomes from preserved crocodiles belonging to the genus Crocodylus, including rare samples from the Seychelles population that vanished roughly 200 years ago.
The findings confirmed an earlier theory that had been based only on the crocodiles' physical appearance. Genetic evidence now shows the Seychelles animals were closely connected to saltwater crocodiles living thousands of kilometers away.
