CHAPTER V 



the digestive system 



The Oral Cavity 



THE mouth in the Crocodilia is large, as is well 

 known, and may be opened very wide. It 

 is bounded anteriorly and laterally by the 

 teeth of the two jaws; these teeth were described 

 in connection with the skull. The mucous mem- 

 brane of the roof of the mouth and of the dorsum of 

 the tongue, especially the former, exhibits numer- 

 ous small papillae (see page i6o), and among these, 

 in the posterior region of the mouth, are the ducts 

 of mucous glands. 



The tongue extends from just back of the 

 mandibular symphysis to the glottis. It is at- 

 tached throughout its entire ventral side except 

 for a short distance at its tip, so that it may be 

 elevated and depressed but not protruded. Among 

 the papilLns on its dorsal surface are sense organs, 

 said to be tactile and gustatory corpuscles (see 

 page 165). The posterior margin of the tongue is 

 elevated as a transverse fold that meets a corre- 



150 



