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Adam Britton is a British zoologist who is best known as a crocodile specialist working in the Northern Territory of Australia primarily on the Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and the Freshwater Crocodile (Crocodylus johnstoni). He is the co-founder of Big Gecko which he operates from Darwin with his wife Erin, a biologist. Britton is a member of the IUCN-SSG Crocodile Specialist Group. Britton has also worked in the field of bioacoustics of insectivorous bats and in the captive care of green iguanas.

Film Work[edit]

Britton has appeared in dozens of television documentaries since 1994 as a crocodile specialist although he has never played the role of host. He is best known for his work on several episodes of Animal Face-Off for Discovery Channel, and for the documentary Secret Lives of Crocodiles where his co-discovery of the antibiotic substance crocodillin was documented. Britton has also worked behind the scenes on over 80 television and movie projects as a consultant and often crocodile wrangler. Recent work has included using a real crocodile for the special effects in Black Water and Baz Luhrmann's Australia. He has also recent branched out into directing his own short films.

He was a scientific consultant that helped bring about key sequences for the recent BBC documentary Life in Cold Blood: Armoured Giants which won a Golden Panda at the 2008 Wildscreen Awards in October 2008. Britton realised a lifelong ambition of working with Sir David Attenborough on a natural history documentary.

In xxx he was the subject of a critically-acclaimed documentary entitled "Invasion of the Crocodiles" produced by Big Wave Productions for The Natural World. The film was nominated in the category for best presenter-led documentary at xxx.

Research[edit]

Britton has published research primarily on crocodiles and bats, the most notable of which is his 1998 co-discovery with Dr Gill Diamond (New Jersey Medical School) of an antibiotic peptide in saltwater crocodile blood which was subsequently named crocodillin. Britton has continued to collaborate with Dr Mark Merchant on aspects of this work since 2003 but has played a minor role in further research. He has also published on the population ecology of saltwater crocodiles, and most recently has been working on genetics and population ecology of so-called "pygmy" freshwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory.

Other Work[edit]

Britton has been involved in education on captive husbandry of the Green Iguana since 1989, and in 2006 co-authored a book on their captive care, titled "Green Iguanas - Captive Care" for published TFH. He also established a number of educational websites, including Crocodilians - Natural History and Conservation, Iguana Iguana Bibliography, and Wong's Green Iguana Heaven.

Britton was the Executive Officer of ACSUG (Asian Conservation and Sustainable Use Group) between 2000 and 2004.