Figure 1.
Distribution of crocodiles in North Africa.
Dots represent localities where crocodiles are currently present (present), where presence is possible but needs confirmation (possible), where crocodiles were extinct in the 20th century (extinct) or where crocodiles where present during the Holocene. Line represents the current northern limit of the range of continuous populations. Extinction localities georeferenced from [18], [23], [25], [55], [57]–[59]. Holocene localities georeferenced from [9], [18], [32], [42]–[54]. Possible and present localities from outside Mauritania georeferenced from [18], [22], [53], [57], [60], [64].
Figure 2.
Distribution of crocodile localities along major river basins of southern Mauritania.
Dots represent localities where crocodiles are currently present (present), where presence is possible but needs confirmation (possible), where crocodiles were reported to be present but this study did not confirmed their presence (not confirmed) or where crocodiles went extinct (extinct). Easternmost known locality in Mauritania (locality 78) is only represented in small inset. Numbers refer to localities described in Table S2. Localities for Gabbou basin are shown in detail in Figure 3. Background is a composite Landsat image depicting land-cover.
Figure 3.
Distribution of crocodile localities along the Gabbou river basin on Tagant mountains.
Dots represent localities where crocodiles are currently present (present), where crocodiles were reported to be present but this study did not confirmed their presence (not confirmed) or where crocodiles were found dead (found dead). Numbers refer to localities described in Table S2. Names represent major seasonal water lines flowing to the Gabbou lake. Background is a composite Landsat image depicting land-cover.
Figure 4.
Examples of gueltas with presence of Nile crocodiles in Mauritania.
A. Tartêga; B. El Khedia; C. Garaouel; D. Oumm el Mhâr.
Figure 5.
Examples of oueds, lakes and tâmoûrts with presence of Nile crocodiles in Mauritania.
A. oued Foum Goussas; B. lake Boû blei'îne; C. tâmoûrt Taghtâfet; D. tâmoûrt Bougâri.
Figure 6.
Examples of Nile crocodiles from Mauritania.
A. juveniles at guelta Matmâta; B. adult killed at Dar-Salam village, near guelta Matmâta; C. the single adult at guelta El Khedia; D. sub-adult at guelta Garaouel; E. two adults hidden in a cave at 8 m depth in guelta Legleyta; F. adult killed near tâmoûrt Taghtâfet; G. basking adults at guelta Metraoucha; H. sub-adult inside a spring-fed water trough at Chegg el Mâleh surrounded by hundreds of frogs (Hoplobatrachus occipitalis).