Crocodilians Drinking
In a past article I discussed the fact that crocodilians have the ability to swallow underwater (CSG Newsletter Volume 22, Number 1, Jan.-March 2003). While they often come to the surface to swallow prey, they don’t have to. They can expel the extra water by squeezing it back out of their stomachs. Of course we all assume that alligators purposely drink water, but it is rarely witnessed. In September 2004 I witnessed an adult female America alligator Alligator mississippiensis drinking water. She had been out of the water most of the night and when I noticed her she was still lying on land. She moved her head over the pond and let her lower jaw settle into the water. She tilted her head down toward the water at almost a 45-degree angle. From the side I could see that she was lowering her tongue, creating a pouch that filled with water. At the same time she was opening her palatal valve. She used her palatal valve and her tongue to push the water to the back of her throat. Her intake of water went on for almost five minutes. I was able to capture a short segment on video. In this video her mouth is closed, but you can see her swallow and see excess water squeeze out from the back of her jaws.
John Brueggen, Director
St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, St. Augustine, FL, USA

BLOG TOPICS
- Why would a rattlesnake’s tail glow under black light?
- Why do crocodiles sit with their mouths open?
- A Chinese Alligator in Heliox: Format Frequencies in a Crocodilian
- Crocodylian Head Width Allometry and Phylogenetic Prediction of Body Size in Extinct Crocodyliforms
- Divergent Morphology among Populations of the New Guinea Crocodile, Crocodylus novaeguineae (Schmidt, 1928): Diagnosis of an Independent Lineage and Description of a New Species
- The Frontoparietal Fossa and Dorsotemporal Fenestra of Archosaurs and Their Significance for Interpretations of Vascular and Muscular Anatomy in Dinosaurs
- Surveying death roll behavior across Crocodylia
- Meeting Karen Allen
- Crocodiles using tools?
- Can Crocodiles change color?
- SAAF Film Credits
- Yacare caiman eating the eggs of a conspecific during oviposition
- Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is…
- Are Crocodilians Like Dinosaurs?
- Crocodilian Immune Activity
- Field Research in Gambia
- Crocodile Laying Eggs After a Move
- Crocodile Food
- Crocodilian Enrichment: The good, the bad, and the untried
- Crocodilian Stationing: Incidental Benefits to a Basic Training Technique
- Crocodilian Tooth Replacement
- Crocodilians Drinking
- Pheromone Collection from Crocodilians
- Chinese Alligators
- Frozen Zoo
- Galloping Crocodilians
- Alligator CT Scan
- Crocodilians Eating Their Vegetables
- Crocodilians Swallowing Underwater
- Crocodiles as Parents
- Crocodiles Feeding Their Young
- Courtship Behavior of American Alligators
- Social Displays of the American Alligator
- Green screen
- Crocodilian Bite-force
- Endoscopy of Crocodilians
- Mummy Crocodiles
- MYTH-BUSTERS