the females, though the difference is considerably less compared to some species, like the saltwater crocodile. Male Nile crocodiles are about longer on average at sexual maturity and grow more so than females after becoming sexually mature, especially expanding in bulk after exceeding in length. Adult male Nile crocodiles usually range in length from long; at these lengths, an average sized male may weigh from . Very old, mature ones can grow to or more in length (all specimens over from 1900 onward are cataloged later). Large mature males can reach or more in weight. Mature female Nile crocodiles typically measure , at which lengths the average female specimen would weigh . The bulk and mass of individual crocodiles can be fairly variable, some animals being relatively slender, while others being very robust; females are often bulkier than males of a similar length. As an example of the body mass increase undergone by mature crocodiles, one of the larger crocodiles handled firsthand by Cott (1961) was and weighed , while the largest specimen measured by Graham and Beard (1973) was and weighed more than . In attempts to parse the mean male and female lengths across the species, the mean adult length was estimated to be reportedly in males, at which males would average about in weight, while that of the female is , at which females would average about . This gives the Nile crocodile somewhat of a size advantage over the next largest non-marine predator on the African continent, the lion (Panthera leo), which averages in males and in females, and attains a maximum known weight of , far less than that of large male crocodiles. Nile crocodiles from cooler climates, like the southern tip of Africa, may be smaller, reaching maximum lengths of only . A crocodile population from Mali, the Sahara Desert, and elsewhere in West Africa reaches only in length, but it is now largely recognized as a separate species, the West African crocodile. Distribution and habitat The Nile crocodile is presently the most common crocodilian in Africa, and is distributed throughout much of the continent. Among crocodilians today, only the saltwater crocodile occurs over a broader geographic area, although other species, especially the spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) (due to its small size and extreme adaptability in habitat and flexibility in diet), seem to actually be more abundant. This species’ historic range, however, was even