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Differentiating crocodilians


Still_human

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Is it generally impossible to distinguish different croc species, even from just half a dozen from a certain location, by most individual bones, like humerus’/arm/leg bones, and individual verts? I know experts can definitely do so if they have the bone in-hand, and proper tools, but in THIS situation, through just pics, there’s not much that can be done unless there’s something that stands out, like unusually large size or something, is there?

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I had been specifically looking at a humerus, but I’d imagine almost anything but skulls&some teeth are too similar. Are scutes generally that way too, or are there defining characteristics on the scutes of some types, or at least certain scutes of some types?

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crocodiles look very similar except for skulls and jaws.  Most individual (non-head) bones are impossible to tell, even by the experts.  Some scutes can be diagnostic, but you have to have pretty good knowledge of the crocs from whatever layer you are dealing with.   Teeth can be diagnostic as well.  

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17 hours ago, jpc said:

crocodiles look very similar except for skulls and jaws.  Most individual (non-head) bones are impossible to tell, even by the experts.  Some scutes can be diagnostic, but you have to have pretty good knowledge of the crocs from whatever layer you are dealing with.   Teeth can be diagnostic as well.  

Thats what I was afraid of:/ sounds like for most crocodilians it can potentially be even more difficult to differentiate individual species than with some other reptiles, like plesiosaurs, and ichthyosaurs.

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