11 Crocodile Myths You Don't Believe

Myth 1. There is a bird that cleans the teeth of crocodiles

Surely, many have seen pictures that show a crocodile with an open mouth and a bird that cleans out stuck food and leeches from there. Most often, a feathered one means an Egyptian runner, the second name of which is a crocodile watchman.

Only this dental symbiosis is nothing more than an invention, and an ancient one at that. A similar story was repeated by Herodotus, Aristotle and Pliny.

In fact, no birds clean the mouths of crocodiles, and reptiles in such services do not clean their mouths at all. dont needT. R. Howell. Breeding Biology of the Egyptian Plover, Pluvianus Aegyptius. There is no documentary evidence for this myth at all: no one has ever been able to film how birds get into the mouth of a predator. Although runners sometimes catch flies near crocodiles, they do not pay attention to birds.

Myth 2. Crocodiles cry to remove salt from the body

The popular expression "crocodile tears" also came to us from the ancient world - it is attributed to Plutarch. Allegedly, the reptile sheds tears when it devours its prey. The proverb eventually became a designation for hypocrisy, feigned grief.

In popular science articles about crocodiles but another explanation is often found: they allegedly cry not out of sympathy, but remove excess salt from the body with the help of tears. But this is not true: to get rid of it in these reptiles There isL. Taplin. Salt Glands in the Tongue of the Estuarine Crocodile Crocodylus porosus / Science special glands in the tongue. Thanks to them, they can drink salt water.

Crocodiles cry to moisten their eyes when they are out of the water for a long time. In addition, they can really shed a tear while eating: when chewing it hurtNo Faking It, Crocodile Tears Are Real/ScienceDaily lacrimal glands.

Myth 3. Crocodiles eat their babies

On the Internet you can see a lot of photos with crocodiles that grab their offspring mouth. And because of this, some may decide that reptiles eat offspring.

In fact, in this way, females endureK. C. Richardson, G. J. W Webb, S. C. Manolis. Crocodiles: Inside Out. A Guide to the Crocodilians and Their Functional Morphology / The Quarterly Review of Biology: Vol 79, No 1 cubs from a nest on land into the water - their native element. Toddlers are not always able to get there on their own. In addition, the mother feeds them by allowing them to eat meat from her mouth.

Female crocodiles take care of their offspring for about a year after hatching, and then leave the cubs. If the mother is not around, the male begins to demonstrate parental instincts, protectingCroc Creche: Why Crocodilian Males Make Great Babysitters / RoundGlass Sustain offspring instead.

Moreover, crocodiles often take care not only of their cubs, but also of strangers, if they are met.

Comes to curiosities: fixedCroc Creche: Why Crocodilian Males Make Great Babysitters / RoundGlass Sustain cases when foreign males drove the biological father away from the cubs and began to protect them instead of him.

Myth 4. Crocodiles are living fossils

A fairly common belief says that crocodiles are living fossils, that is, animals that have not been around for a long time. have evolved. They allegedly have not changed since the time of the dinosaurs.

In fact, this is not so: these reptiles evolved in the same way as all other self-respecting animals. The common ancestor of modern crocodiles, alligators, and gharials lived about 100 million years ago, that is, during the dinosaurs. But since then his descendants have strongly have changedM. J. Benton. Vertebrate Palaeontology.

The most ancient of the current crocodiles can be considered combed, the type of which took shapeK. Srikulnath. Role of Chromosome Changes in Crocodylus Evolution and Diversity / Genomics Inform approximately 6–12 million years ago. So it is wrong to assume that the current toothy reptiles have been invariably existing since the Cretaceous period.

Myth 5. Crocodiles hunted dinosaurs

The assertion that crocodiles are so ancient that they hunted dinosaurs, which flickers in many popular science articles, is also incorrect.

Those giant reptiles, like Sarcosuchus or Deinosuchus, are correctly counted crocodilomorphsR. L. Carroll. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolutionbut not real crocodiles. They are relatives of our modern toothy predators, but very distant and have common ancestors with them.

For dinosaurs, by the way, they did not specifically hunt, preferring eatD. R. Schwimmer. King of the Crocodylians: The Paleobiology of Deinosuchus giant tortoises and large fish, and sometimes even sharks. They attacked bipedal lizards only on major holidays.

Myth 6. Crocodiles are descendants of dinosaurs

Some believe that crocodiles are descended from dinosaurs. But it's not. They are indeed relatives, but their evolutionary paths broke upR. J. Butler. The Sail‑Backed Reptile Ctenosauriscus from the Latest Early Triassic of Germany and the Timing and Biogeography of the Early Archosaur Radiation / PLOS ONE a long time ago - about 248 million years.

So saying that crocodiles evolved from dinosaurs is like saying that your sister gave birth to you. In fact, these beings evolved in parallel.

Myth 7. Crocodiles - lizards

Not at all. In terms of evolution, crocodiles are not relatives of the current lizards, but birds. Their heart and lungs are in their structure remindE. R. Schachner. Pulmonary anatomy in the Nile crocodile and the evolution of unidirectional airflow in Archosauria / PeerJ those of birds, not reptiles.

Both crocodiles and dinosaurs belongChina fossil shows bird, crocodile family trees split earlier than thought / UW News group of archosaurs. And they also include modern birds - descendants dinosaursthat survived extinction 65 million years ago.

Myth 8. Alligators and crocodiles are the same

It is quite easy to confuse an alligator and a crocodile if you do not know that the first has a wider muzzle, while the second has a narrower and straighter one. But don't let the resemblance confuse you: they are different familiesJ. R. Oaks. A time‑calibrated species tree of Crocodylia reveals a recent radiation of the true crocodiles / Evolution. From the generic branch of crocodiles, alligators “budged” at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 87 million years.

Myth 9. Crocodiles are stupid

Typically, crocodiles are considered the epitome of animal strength and mindless aggression with a tiny lizard brain. But in fact they cognitive abilities quite high and in mind they are much closer to birds than to reptiles.

For example, crocodiles are able to track and memorizeG. Grigg, D. Kirshner. Biology and Evolution of Crocodylians behavior patterns of their prey. If herbivores arrive at the watering hole every day at the same time and place, the predator will remember this so as not to sit in wait for nothing.

In addition, some crocodiles have become so full of hunting wisdom that they can make bird baits.

They lay outStudy finds crocodiles are sophisticated hunters / Phys.org sticks in front of their muzzle and lie down, waiting until some bird flies close to grab one and use it as building material for the nest. Here the reptile attacks. And to catch birds "on a stick" crocodiles tryingCrocodiles are cleverer than previously thought: Some crocodiles use lures to hunt their prey / ScienceDaily only in the spring, when the nesting season begins. Hunting trick.

Myth 10. Crocodiles are silent

In horror films, crocodiles are shown as very silent animals. If they do decide to give them a voice, then it usually resembles the stereotypical booming roar of a tyrannosaurus rex.

In fact, crocodiles publish quite a lot of different soundsKent A. Vliet. Alligators: The Illustrated Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation. For example, their cubs begin to literally chirp while still sitting in their eggs. So they call on the mother through the shell to help them get out. And young crocodiles scream piercingly when something threatens them.

If you need to intimidate the enemy, the predator makes a hoarse sound, reminiscent of a cough. And during the mating season, crocodiles yell, roar, moo until infrasoundCrocodiles: Their History, Characteristics And Behavior / Facts and Details. Mostly vociferous males, but their girlfriends can be loud.

Myth 11. Crocodiles are solitary

Crocodiles usually keep alone, but this is not always the case. Sometimes they huntStudy finds crocodiles are sophisticated hunters / Phys.org in groups if the prey is too large: some hold the animal, others tear it apart. Also, these predators are capable of catching fish together - they take turns grabbing it, while the rest cut circles in the water, cutting off the prey's path to retreat.

It has been estimated that crocodiles are capable of fileCrocodile Communication: Crocodiles, Caimans, Alligators, Gharials / Crocodilian.com up to 20 different voice signals to each other: it can be a message about production, a warning about danger or a requirement to keep a distance.