Nile crocodiles are relatively social creatures. Males defend territories along shorelines, but both sexes gather at basking sites, and females tend to make their nests near one another. Sometimes these reptiles hunt cooperatively, herding fish into shallow water.
The strict hierarchy of Nile crocodiles is determined by their size. Large, old males are at the top of this hierarchy and have primary access to food [they eat first] and the best basking spots. Crocodiles tend to respect this order. When it is infringed, the result is often violent and sometimes fatal.
Crocodiles have a body armor in the form of large, strong, partially ossified scutes [see today’s photograph]. They regularly shed their skin but only a few scales at a time. Nile crocodiles have partial webbing between their toes.