An Ancient Animal in a Changed World
Crocodylus palustris, the mugger crocodile, has been swimming through the Indian subcontinent's rivers for roughly 26 million years. Today, a significant number of them are swimming through sewage-fed lakes on the edges of Ahmedabad, irrigation channels outside Vadodara, and the silted reservoirs that supply water to towns in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The species didn't retreat when humans arrived. It stayed, watched, and adjusted.