Case file · Cryptid
Crocodiles of the Sahara
Crocodiles survived in the gueltas (rock pools) of the Tassili n'Ajjer in Algeria into the 20th century, a relic of the green Sahara. Reports ended in the 1920s–1940s.
1924 CE · 25.50, 8.30 · status: disputed
The account
Similar dwarfed populations still live in Mauritania and Chad. Their survival in the middle of the desert sounded like a traveller's tale until specimens were collected.
The sceptical view
Exactly when the last Algerian crocodiles disappeared is uncertain.