Land crocodiles and devil's mouth lizards

Crocodiles of the steppe.
Saratov region, st. Wet 1980 behind the dusty carriage window.
“Get out the virgin lands, we’ve arrived,” the carriage commander commands.
They thought before the Volga! The steppe is bare! But everything here has dried up! - some grumble.
We lined up outside the carriage for roll call.
“Komarov!” the commander repeated several times.
-In Orsk! He fell on his head from the top shelf! - came the answer and laughter.
“The slope is such that I slid down,” he told a friend in the ranks.
-You are tenacious, you won’t fall. He hugged the girl tightly in Chelyabinsk. You can’t get it off,” I remembered our transfer and the long wait for the train to Saratov.
I immediately remembered the station and walks along the surrounding streets. We went to the store for cigarettes. I go out and on the steps of the store a girl tells me:
-Soldier, let me have a smoke?
He gave me a cigarette and started talking. There is a lot of free time for excursions. We drank vodka. My guys came up with a threat.
-Are you giving her something to drink? Better treat us! Leave the prostitute!
“A normal girl, from Nazyvaevsk,” I assure them.
“I came to work with my body,” my comrades do not give up.
I couldn't push it away. Very affectionate, moderately beautiful.
Gave her real address in Omsk region. Three months later I was driving from Omsk and remembered her, but I didn’t go out into the deep night. Maybe for the better.
“To the left! Disassemble the cars!” came the command and thoughts from Chelyabinsk were transported to reality. Welcome to the Volga region.
There is a military train on the adjacent tracks. Judging by the inscriptions on the windshield of the car from the Pacific Fleet. An escort team of conscript land seamen.
“I went out on deck and it was washed away?” - a joke to the sailors.
“Marine Corps! They cleaned up the shore really well,” the friend pointed to the black mass of soldiers in berets. We will soon learn that discipline exists there.
I remember an incident from the first days of our stay with them... A Marine was at fault. An ordinary midshipman ordered him to dig a hole measuring 2 meters along all sides. At the same time he kicked in one place. A weighty addition to words.
I chose a ZIL-157 car loaded with firewood. I opened the hood and made sure that the oil and water were normal. Everything the battalion needed was packed in the body in advance. Thanks to the fleet and quartermasters. He sat down in the cockpit and pressed the button with his boot. The engine began to purr and my spirits rose. We left Mokrous in a column into the hot steppe. The dust from the dirt road rose to the skies, making it impossible to breathe. After some time we entered the village. It seems that the chickens have turned gray from dust. People rush into their houses to close windows and doors. and for many kilometers the visibility dropped, it was hard to breathe. The terrain is very flat, boring to look at. But it’s fun to go to the toilet and make the kids laugh. We examined the Eruslan River, but it had all evaporated. Equipment, field kitchens, and personnel require a lot of water. It was late afternoon, we turned around and found a decent pond. They lined up equipment and tents in a platoon. They gave me dry rations, no water. They scooped them up from the pond in mugs. They began to think about vodka. The body of my car was freed from logs, others from tents with pegs, and the kitchen. Those who wished to climb in, with the comforts on the floor. They put their quilted jackets under them and set off towards the village. The store was open and they took the alcohol. We returned in the dark, drank and slept on the ground, in the bodies, in the cabins.
I woke up in the cabin early in the morning from great thirst. I was cold at night, but now I'm sweating. He ran his hand over the stubble of his face.
“Shave, drink,” he whispered and began looking for a machine with blades, soap, a towel, toothpaste, a mug. I rummage through my backpack and wake up Sanka in the cabin.
“I’ll go to the pond with you!” Sasha yawned widely.
-Get ready, I’ll wake up the passengers in the back and before the wind...
About ten people gathered on the shore. We wash, drink, shave. Surely a noise was made and its inhabitants swam out from the depths of the pond. A couple of creatures swim up to me. I almost dropped the razor into the water. He stepped back in surprise and began to examine their exit from the water.
“Crocodiles!” he shouted to the guys.
There was panic and confusion. Moreover, they began to climb out in many places. They scare us with strange sounds like whistling.
“Triton!” I remembered the name. This is where the knowledge ends.
An older comrade, Georgy, proudly declared:
-I know! Their eyes grow on their own. Believe me, birds peck at living ones.
“Are they immortal?” I didn’t understand.
-They live a long time, up to 30 years. Look how well-fed they are. They live in ecologically clean water. They look for food in water and on land. Kill a mosquito or a worm. They will come into our kitchen and eat our bread.
-We invited the battalion commander and the officers to look at the zoo. They organized a headquarters and laid out maps on the withered grass.
The battalion gathered on the shore. Soon the command was heard:
-The battalion is being built!
The battalion commander, swollen from alcohol, turned away from the officers and newts.
-Collapse the tents! We change the location to the station. Eruslan. Loading and checking of personnel. Departure in 2 hours, disperse! We didn’t say goodbye to the newts, we set off on the road. We’re dusting across the steppe again, we’re driving into Yeruslan. Coordinates 51°14;16; With. w. 47°19;29; V. d. They instantly covered it with a thick layer of dust. This caused anger and indignation among the residents. We drove 5 km south and stopped. We see a new reservoir to the right of the road. True, smaller in size, but without newts.

Crocodiles are amazing reptiles. The first reptiles appeared on Earth about 250 million years ago, and already 84 million years ago crocodiles similar to modern ones appeared. There are only 23 living species of crocodiles, including alligators and caimans, different not only in structure and body size, but also in habitat and life expectancy.

These unique reptiles are amazingly adapted to life. From a scientific point of view, they are immortal, due to the following factors:

• they have no or incredibly little aging processes (so-called negligible aging) - so much so that they cannot be noticed in the laboratory
• their blood contains a significant dose of a strong antibiotic, which protects them from infection by viruses and infections, which are very common in fresh water bodies of the tropical and subtropical zones.
• In an emergency, an adult crocodile can go without food for up to 1.5 years!
• Some crocodiles are able to hibernate during the dry season, burying themselves in the silt of a drying up reservoir.
• crocodiles grow throughout their lives, but at a very uneven pace: depending on environmental conditions and age, the same individual can gain only 1 cm in length in a year or double its size. The maximum reliably known dimensions are 6.15 m in length and more than 1000 kg in weight.
• A crocodile's teeth change throughout its life, every 2 years.
• These reptiles are very strong; adult individuals often attack mammals that are several times larger than a crocodile.
• Crocodiles have well-developed sense organs: the eyes, ears and nostrils are located so that the crocodile can only keep them above the surface, completely hiding the rest of the head and body under water. There are neuromasts on the lower jaw that detect any movement and change in water pressure - in particular, when the victim approaches.
• The brain, which has 2 hemispheres and a cortex, also works effectively.
• Crocodile eggs are not only incredibly efficiently constructed, but are also protected by the female for the entire maturation period - 3 months. The mother carries the hatched crocodiles into the pond in her mouth.
• Despite the fact that these predators are cold-blooded (the body does not produce heat, the temperature depends on the ambient temperature), their thermoregulation mechanism allows them to reduce daily changes in body temperature to 1 - 2 0 C - a kind of natural thermos. In particular, in hot weather they open their mouths and cool down due to the evaporation of moisture from the oral cavity.
• Many crocodiles tolerate salty sea water well, and Saltwater crocodiles capable of swimming in the sea a couple of hundred kilometers from the coast. To regulate the level of salt in the body, these reptiles have special glands that remove excess salt through “tears.”

Despite such an impressive list of adaptations and means of protection, the oldest crocodile (named Henry, lives in a reserve in Botswana), whose age is beyond doubt, is only 116 years old, and wildlife these semi-aquatic predators rarely live past 70 years.

The reason for this is mainly human. Crocodiles are killed for meat and skin, and also because these reptiles attack humans and their livestock. In addition, crocodiles die from changes in the landscape around them: deforestation, drainage of lakes and swamps, construction of dams on rivers, the emergence of new human settlements near reservoirs, industrial fishing, etc. - due to their extremely low ability to migrate. All these human actions lead either to the fact that the crocodile has nowhere to live, or to a significant decrease in game (prey) around and the predator’s death by starvation. Sometimes crocodiles die when they become entangled in fishing nets.

There are, of course, natural causes of death for crocodiles. In particular, it has been proven that individuals who have lost the ability to reproduce and are infertile die. There is also a version that when a certain size and body weight are reached, the well-developed 4-chamber heart of a crocodile ceases to cope.

In nature, an adult crocodile has only one threatening rival - an even older and larger crocodile. Young individuals (usually up to 1 m) can become prey for anaconda, puma or giant otter, as well as jaguar or lion. Newborn crocodiles can be eaten by almost any predator.

The most famous types of crocodiles and short information about them:

1. The saltwater crocodile lives on average up to 70 years, reaches 7 m in length, and is better adapted to sea water than any other species. Often attacks humans and large mammals.
2. Nile crocodile lives on average about 80 years, the maximum recorded age is 116 years. Depending on the species (according to habitat), it can reach 2.5 – 6.5 m. Able to swim in salt water, but only in coastal areas - at river mouths. It also often attacks humans and cattle.
3. Gavial - also belongs to the family of true crocodiles, but differs in its narrow mouth and diet: it feeds mainly on fish and small mammals, even when an adult; never attacks a person. Found in the region from India to north coast Australia. Lives about 60 years, reaches 6 m.
4. Mississippian (American) alligator - belongs to the genus and family “alligators” from the order “crocodiles”. Usually lives 30 – 50 years, but a 66-year-old individual is also known; reaches 5 – 5.5 m.
5. The black caiman, from the genus “black caimans” of the “alligator family” of the order “crocodiles”, is smaller than true crocodiles and alligators - reaches 4 m, with the length of other types of caimans up to 2.5 m. Cases of attacks on humans are known, but they are very rare. Black caimans usually live 40–50 years.

Interesting facts about crocodiles:

• In captivity, with proper care, crocodiles live much longer than in the wild - after all, they are protected from hunters and the risk of changing living conditions or lack of food
• Crocodiles reach puberty at 8–10 years of age; when bred for meat, they are slaughtered at 15 years of age, and for skin at 2–3 months (except for black caimans).
• Crocodiles are recognized as the largest land predators.
• Up to 60% of a crocodile's prey turns into fat, providing it with an energy reserve in case of forced hunger strike
• Crocodiles feel good at temperatures of 30 - 35 0 C, temperatures below 20 or above 38 0 C are detrimental to them
• Species diversity is also associated with diet diversity. Thus, all true crocodiles have a sharper muzzle (V-shaped) than alligators and caimans (U-shaped), while the gharial has a narrow and almost flat muzzle (I-shaped). The shape of the teeth also differs: sharp teeth tear soft tissue well, while dull “stumps” crush shells.
• The crocodile's diet varies depending on age and size, consisting of invertebrates, fish, shellfish, snakes and mammals of various sizes.
• The crocodile is not capable of chewing, but its strength is enough to tear apart its prey and swallow it piece by piece.
• Crocodiles usually strive not to bite large prey, but to drown it.
• These predators are capable of reaching speeds of up to 17 km/h on land and up to 35 km/h in water, and young animals are even capable of galloping.
• Crocodiles swim, wriggling horizontally, especially with their tail, which reaches half the total body length.
• These reptiles are clean people, excellent orderlies of their pond. They push mud and garbage onto the shore, and eat carrion (not rotten ones).
• American alligators sometimes dig and maintain their own ponds, cleaning and deepening them.
• The uncontrolled extermination of certain species of crocodiles for the sake of human self-defense, meat or leather production has led to the fact that 6 species of these reptiles are on the verge of extinction and are listed in the International Red Book.

Traces of unprecedented animals Akimushkin Igor Ivanovich

Land crocodiles and devil's mouth lizards