HOW THE CROCODILE LOST ITS TONGUE


The Crocodile and the DogWe were at La Manzanilla Crocodile Sanctuary, walking past a sign warning people not to let their dogs near the crocodiles. We had heard before that crocs are particularly fond of dogs (as a snack) and we asked Don Francisco if it was true. He laughed. “It’s absolutely true,” he said with a sparkle in his eye, “and we even have a legend about this. You know that crocodiles have no tongues, right? Well, a long, long time ago, the legend says that the first crocodile did have a nice long tongue, while the first dog had a very short one. Then one day, Dog went up to Croc and told him that he wanted to borrow Croc’s long tongue for a while, so he could go to a certain far-away place to drink the delicious water there.

“‘No!’ said Croc, but Dog insisted and insisted again and again. Finally, Croc relented, ‘but only if you solemnly promise you’ll return my tongue to me afterward,’ said Croc. Well, Dog went off and really enjoyed lapping up the water with that nice, big, long, new tongue. And that was the last Croc ever saw of him. In fact, to this day, no crocodile has a tongue, but whenever they get a chance to gobble up a dog, they never hesitate.”

Afterwards I discovered that this story is very ancient and variations of it are part of the folk lore of many peoples, from the Guajiros of South America to the Buras of northeast Nigeria. I also learned that crocodiles do have tongues but they’re hard to see. According to the Crocodilian Biology Database, the back of the tongue has been modified into a palatal valve which closes when the reptile is underwater. This means crocodiles can bite all they want while immersed, but must surface in order to swallow their food. John Pint
Crocodiles at La Mananzilla