Although no subspecies are currently formally recognized, as many as seven have been proposed, mostly due to variations in appearance and size noted in various populations through Africa. These have consisted of: "C. n. africanus" (informally named the East African Nile crocodile), "C. n. chamses" (or the West African Nile crocodile), "C. n. cowiei" (the South African Nile crocodile), "C. n. madagascariensis" (Malagasy or Madagascar Nile crocodile, regionally also known as the "Croco Mada", which translates to Malagasy crocodile), "C. n. niloticus" (would be the nominate subspecies, or the Ethiopian Nile crocodile), "C. n. pauciscutatus" (Kenyan Nile crocodile), "C. (n.) suchus" (now widely perceived by crocodilian biologists as a separate species). In a study of the morphology of the various populations, including "C. (n.) suchus", the appearance of the Nile crocodile "sensu lato" was found to be more variable than any other currently recognized crocodile species, and at least some of these variations were related to locality.