How long do crocodilians live?
This is a very difficult question to answer! There is virtually no information on maximum age of different species in the wild, and nobody really knows whether animals in captivity live normal lifespans or die prematurely. The main problem is that crocodilians live long lives, often outliving their caretakers and those scientists who study them! Marked individuals in the wild can be studied by different generations, but no studies have been ongoing for enough time to provide any conclusive answers. Old animals can be aged by looking at growth rings laid down in bone, but this technique is notoriously unreliable. From the information we have, it appears that smaller species live around 30 to 50 years, and larger species live at least 50 to 70 years. There is enough reliable information from long-term captive saltwater crocodiles to conclude that some individuals can reach at least 70 years of age. One zoo in Russia claims to have held a crocodile (species unknown) that was 115 years old
