macrocephale Mon May 07, 2012 2:38 am
"The largest size saltwater crocodiles can reach is the subject of considerable controversy. The longest crocodile ever measured snout-to-tail and verified was the skin of a dead crocodile, which was 6.2 metres (20 ft) long. As skins tend to shrink slightly after removal from the carcass, this crocodile's living length was estimated at 6.3 metres (21 ft), and it could have weighed more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb). Incomplete remains (the skull of a crocodile shot in Orissa) have been claimed to come from a 7.6-metre (25 ft) crocodile, but scholarly examination suggested a length no greater than 7 metres (23 ft). There have been numerous claims of crocodiles in the 9-metre (30 ft) range: the crocodile shot in the Bay of Bengal in 1840, reported at 10 metres (33 ft); another killed in 1823 at Jalajala on the main island of Luzon in the Philippines reported at 8.2 metres (27 ft); a reported 7.6 metres (25 ft) crocodile was killed in the Hooghly River in the Alipore District of Calcutta. However, examinations of these animals' skulls actually indicated animals ranging from 6 to 6.6 metres (20–21.7 ft). A crocodile shot in the Queensland in 1957 was reported to be 8.63 metres (28.3 ft) long, but no verified measurements were made and no remains of this crocodile exist. A "replica" of this crocodile has been made as a tourist attraction. Many other unconfirmed reports of crocodiles exceeding 8 metres (28+ ft) have been made but these are highly unlikely."
From wiki.. I acknowledge that these are estimates without conclusive proof but most of these sorts of stories turn out to be true. Either way, Salties are definitely longer than Niles on average.
Also, to be a true crocodile, it only has to be within the order Crocodilia, which also includes the Gavialoideans (Gharials) and the Alligatoroideans, as well as many other extinct genera. Being part of the genus Crocodylus does not make an animal a true crocodile, just as to be a big cat (or indeed cat) an animal does not have to be a member of the genus Panthera (Lion, Tiger, Jaguar, Leopard, possibly but not definitely the Snow Leopard and many others..).