Mecistops cataphractus is a critically endangered species of crocodile restricted to West Africa, distinguished by its narrow, elongated snout adapted for catching fish in freshwater rivers and streams.
Until recently, slender-snouted crocodiles were considered a single species distributed across West and Central Africa. Genetic studies in 2014 and 2018 revealed that populations east and west of the Cameroon Line—a volcanic mountain range—had diverged between 6.5 and 7.5 million years ago, isolated in separate river drainage systems. The western populations retain the name cataphractus, as the original specimens used to describe the species came from West Africa, while central African animals are now classified as a distinct species, Mecistops leptorhynchus. This taxonomic revision means the West African slender-snouted crocodile occupies a smaller range than previously understood, one of five crocodile species on the continent alongside the Central African slender-snouted, Nile, West African and dwarf crocodiles.
