546 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



and the feet are more or 

 less webbed. The most strik- 

 ing of its structural adapta- 

 tions is, however, associated 

 with the formation of the 

 creature's skull. The manner 

 in which a crocodile or alli- 

 gator contrives to breathe or to 

 save itself from asphyxiation, 

 when opening and shutting 

 its mouth under water, as 

 it may often be observed to 

 do in the Regent's Park 

 Menagerie, is a common 

 source of wonderment to the 

 onlooker. This seemingly 

 difficult feat is compassed by 

 virtue of the posterior nos- 

 trils, or breathing-passages, 

 being set so far back in the 

 skull, and being so completely 

 cut off from the mouth-cavity 

 b}- specialh' developed bones of the palate, that they have no intercommunication with 

 the mouth. It is this mechanism which enables a crocodile to seize and hold an animal 

 underneath the watei- between its open jaws until it is drowned. Special valves at the 

 back of the mouth prevent any water running down the creature's throat, while it is able 

 itself to breathe unrestrainedly b_v allowing just the tip of its elongated snout, with the anterior 

 nostril-apertures, to remain above the water's surface. In many species a conspicuous knob- 

 like bon\- excrescence is developed at the extremity of the snout, b}' which the nostril-openings 

 are raised tunet-wise above the surface of the water. The ej'cs also being usually elevated 

 a b o \' e the 1 e \' c 1 of the 



Phtit h, li: p. C.inJ», F.Z.S. 



YOUNG BROAD-SNOUTED CROCODILE 



^ r;Lin-v£ of JVcst Afnca^ remarkable for the extreme shortness and great breadth of its tto%-zh 



creature's head, the crocodile 

 is able to approach its floating 

 or bank-side prey practicall}' 

 unpcrcei\'cd, its huge bod\', 

 limbs, and even the head, 

 with the exception of the 

 nose and eyes, being totally 

 submerged. 



Although capable of 

 mo\ing with great activity 

 in the \vatcr, crocodiles and 

 their allies are usually ac- 

 counted sluggish and slow 

 mo\'ers on the land. Seen 

 basking in the sun, as is 

 their wont, by the hour 

 together on some sand-bank, 

 or creeping lazily thereon 

 among their fellows, such a 

 conclusion is natural. The 

 celerity, however, with which 



Photo by Norman U. Smithy Kiq. 



A DEAD CROCODILE 



W man-eating individual. This particular animal has just been shot. The natives in the 

 background give a good idea of its size — little less than 20 feet long 



