40 The Alligator and Its Allies 



very common on the island of Madagascar (Fig. 

 1 1 ) . In the lower waters of the Nile it is now nearly 

 exterminated. It has always been a conspicuous 

 animal in Egypt and was one of the animals held 

 sacred by the Egyptians and preserved by them 

 as mummies. It is discussed by Herodotus, and 

 the "leviathan" mentioned in the Book of Job 

 is doubtless this crocodile. In fact the name is 

 said to be derived from the ancient Greek for 

 lizard, just as the word alligator is said to be de- 

 rived from the Spanish for lizard — el lagarto; the 

 resemblance in form between these big saurians 

 and their smaller relatives is evident. The alli- 

 gator, being confined to America and a small part 

 of Asia, was probably not known to the ancients. 



An excellent account of the development and 

 habits of the present species is given by Voeltzkow 

 (78), who says it is, perhaps, the most common 

 vertebrate in Madagascar. The largest specimen 

 measured by this observer was thirteen feet; 

 Ditmars gives sixteen feet as the maximum size. 

 This man-eating crocodile, according to Ditmars, 

 destro3^s more human lives than any other wild 

 animal of the dark continent. 



The story told by Herodotus of the bird, prob- 

 ably a species of plover, which enters the gaping 

 mouth of the crocodile to pick off the leeches found 

 there may be true, since there is such a bird that 

 may be seen perching on the backs of crocodiles, 

 and as the Crocodilia frequently lie with their 



