Accounts from early expeditions to the Seychelles more than 250 years ago described crocodiles as common along the coasts of the archipelago. But after the first settlers established a permanent presence in 1770, the Seychelles crocodiles were completely wiped out within 50 years. A new genetic study now shows that the crocodiles on the remote Seychelles islands did not belong to a separate species. Instead, they represented the westernmost population of the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). The result confirms an earlier hypothesis that had been based solely on external characteristics.

Accounts from early expeditions to the Seychelles more than 250 years ago described crocodiles as common along the coasts of the archipelago. But after the first settlers established a permanent presence in 1770, the Seychelles crocodiles were completely wiped out within 50 years. A new genetic study now shows that the crocodiles on the remote Seychelles islands did not belong to a separate species. Instead, they represented the westernmost population of the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). The result confirms an earlier hypothesis that had been based solely on external characteristics.

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