Saltwater crocodile: Clues from Nature

Question 1 · multiple choice

Choose the habitat that best matches the everyday needs of a Saltwater crocodile.

estuaries, mangroves, rivers, lagoons, and coastal seas temperate forest, heath, and grassland with firm soil clear slow rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes slow rivers, floodplains, and muddy pools in South America

Question 2 · multiple choice

A scientist analyses food remains from a Saltwater crocodile. Which result is most likely?

mostly leaves, flowers, and seed pods reached high in trees fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, and carrion bark, twigs, leaves, and aquatic plants fish, squid, and krill caught underwater

Question 3 · multiple choice

Which time-use clue would fit a Saltwater crocodile rather than the other choices?

often active from dusk through night but also hunts by day forages mainly by day often hunts at night but basks by day mostly active at night

Question 4 · multiple choice

Which movement pattern makes sense for the body design of a Saltwater crocodile?

stalks, swims strongly, climbs, and attacks with a short rush runs and scratches on the ground and flies only short distances walks and makes short hops rather than long leaps swims with tail strokes and can travel far through ocean currents

Question 5 · multiple choice

What specialised feature helps a Saltwater crocodile solve an everyday survival problem?

pressure sensors around the jaws detect tiny ripples made by prey a long tongue rapidly laps nectar while wing joints permit unusual strokes skin toxins are obtained partly from chemicals in its wild arthropod diet gas and liquid in shell chambers regulate buoyancy

Question 6 · multiple choice

A field diary describes the early life of a Saltwater crocodile. Which entry is correct?

females bury eggs in gravel nests called redds females guard mound nests and may carry hatchlings to water eggs are inserted into aquatic plants and nymphs grow underwater an infant rides on its mother and develops slowly over several years

Question 7 · multiple choice

Which relationship pattern is normal for a Saltwater crocodile?

packs are usually family groups built around a breeding pair forms herds or managed groups with strong social recognition mostly territorial, though groups gather where food is abundant pairs defend territories with loud calls

Question 8 · multiple choice

Which ecosystem job can be connected to a Saltwater crocodile?

prunes tree canopies and moves seeds between feeding places creates wetlands that provide habitat for many other species transfers ocean nutrients to sea ice colonies and feeds predators top predator linking freshwater, estuary, and marine food webs

Question 9 · multiple choice

What protection strategy best matches a Saltwater crocodile's body and behaviour?

uses stealth, armoured skin, powerful jaws, and a spinning roll blocks a burrow with its tough rear end and can crush an attacker against the wall flies low and fast to escape danger releases high-voltage pulses that deter predators

Question 10 · true false

True or False: A saltwater crocodile can survive in seawater because specialised tongue glands remove extra salt.

True False