Dangerous attraction: Amorous pursuit imperils Cuban crocodile

[Still Waters]

Being too coveted a mating partner can have its downside for a species faced with extinction, as the Cuban crocodile has learned.

Arduous pursuit by its amorous American counterpart has seen survival of the island species, its numbers already dwindling, further threatened by hybridization.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Cuban crocodile population has declined more than 80 percent over three generations.

Known to scientists as Crocodylus rhombifer, the black-and-yellow freshwater reptile is listed as a "critically endangered" species.

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-dangerous-amorous-pursuit-imperils-cuban.html