Over the past years the aquatic reptiles in Classic Maya art have sometimes been called caiman or called alligator. Fortunately, other archaeologists and iconographers correctly call the Maya reptiles a crocodile. The biology and iconography team at FLAAR Mesoamerica are preparing a PowerPoint presentation to show that it is usually crocodiles that are pictured in the pre-Columbian art of the Maya, Olmec, and Aztec. Any area near the Pacific Coast, such as Oaxaca, would have also had caiman available (in Mexico and in Guatemala). But the Classic Maya of the Maya Lowlands knew Crocodylus moreletii and those near the Caribbean would have also known Crocodylus acutus.
The purpose of the lecture is to assist epigraphers, iconographers, zooarchaeologists and archaeologists to see where each genus and each species was available to the Olmec, Maya, and other civilizations of Mesoamerica thousands of years ago. It is understandable that we professors who grew up in the USA think primarily about alligators; and as students we learned about the Nile crocodile and other crocodiles of Africa. So the in-person presentation on July 27, 2023 is to show the actual crocodiles of the Maya lowlands, and the caiman inland from the Pacific Ocean coast.
These flamingos are usually more pink; but here in Parque Zoológico La Aurora they are more red. One reason is that they are in the water areas of this zoo all year long. In their native habitat of Yucatan they in the Maya Lowlands. La Aurora Zoo is at 1,500 meters above sea level.
I can still remember over 30 years ago having a boat ride across the lagoons of the Yucatan peninsula where you see thousands of these pink flamingos, Phoenicopterus ruber.
Wetlands are areas that maintain flood conditions for long periods of time. These sites are the habitat of a large number of flora and fauna species. These areas are also home to Crocodylus moreletii, commonly called the Petenero Crocodile or Swamp Crocodile.
Description of the species
This species is small compared to other species of crocodiles. There is a marked sexual dimorphism in the species because the males are larger than the females, reaching up to 3 meters in length, the longest being 4.3 m. They are dark gray or brown in color, with dark bands and spots around the entire body. Juveniles can become bright yellow with some dark bands.
This crocodile is typical of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, Belize and northern Guatemala in the departments of Petén and Alta Verapaz.
Biology
These animals are at the top of the food chain, in the habitats where they are found. They feed on a wide variety of prey. The hatchlings feed on insects and small fish. As they grow, the range of prey widens, coming to hunt larger animals such as birds and medium-sized mammals. They capture their prey through their jaws, once the prey is caught they are taken to the water where the crocodiles drown them and then dismember them in order to eat them.
The breeding season is during the summer in the months of April and June, the nests are made before the rainy season. The mother builds her mound three meters wide and one meter high, they are found quite often near water. The females are in charge of caring for the nest until the eggs hatch. They can lay 20 to 45 eggs per clutch. Once they hatch, the young are protected by both their mother and father, until they are old enough to care for themselves.
The males of this species are quite territorial and there are usually disputes over territory, this can lead to terrible injuries in the specimens. These can cause superficial injuries, such as loss of limbs and even loss of sight. The dorsal and ventral surfaces of the snout are dotted with glands and sensory organs, so if they lose sight, crocodiles are able to continue capturing prey and feeding.
Importance
Crocodylus moreletii is an important species within the country's wetlands and an endangered species due to the loss of its habitat in the Guatemalan area. Being one of the largest reptile species that inhabits the territory of Guatemala. Crocodiles promote species richness, since they control different populations of mammals and birds, add nutrients to the aquatic environment, and maintain open flows between bodies of water, through their displacement, construction of caves, and excavations that allow the creation of ponds in environments that are subjected to prolonged periods of drought.
Bibliography
Campbell, J.A.
1998
“Amphibians and Reptiles of Northern Guatemala, the Yucatan, and Belize”. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma.
Lee. J.C.
2000
“A field guide to the Amphibians and reptiles of the Maya World. The Lowlands of Mexico, Northern Guatema la, and Belize”. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press
Written by Mario Rivera Yurrita Edited by Victor Mendoza & Vivian Hurtado
Our January 2023 field trip has been very successful in finding, photographing, documenting the wild fauna of Tikal National Park. Within one hour we found
Crocodylus moreletii, the crocodile found inland (so not on the coasts)
Boat-billed heron, Cochlearius cochlearius (three of them on a single tree)
Bufo toad, Incilius valliceps (in past decades named Bufo valliceps)
Crocodylus moreletii
Cochlearius cochlearius
Incilius valliceps
FLAAR (USA) through FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala) is continuing our 5-year project of coordination and cooperation with CONAP (the forestry conservation agency of Guatemala). We are in the middle of this 2021-2025 project.
In late 2023 and 2024 we will be coordinating with an eco-tourism specialist to make it possible for individuals who can donate to cover the costs of the field trip to join our team to experience our flora, fauna and ecosystem field work in remote areas of the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya, Peten, Guatemala.
While hiking a kilometer from the former Aviateca airfield at Tikal (Peten, Guatemala), I noticed a small toad. It was young, perhaps 4 cm long; nowhere near the size it will reach as an adult. We gently picked it up to bring it to the biologist and the other photographers and then put it safely on the ground. It was a challenge to photograph because it liked to hop around.
I have studied Bufo marinus decades ago (now named Rhinalla marina but I prefer to nickname it simply Bufo toad). They never exuded their venom. This toad at Tikal we estimate may be Bufo valliceps (in recent years renamed Incilius valliceps). The key feature is the yellow line of color down the spine. Toads shown on the Internet are more olive colored; our toad is in the center of Mesoamerica, nowhere near the Gulf Coast (or any other coast). So perhaps the color being the same as all the old leaves on the ground provides camouflage so raptors don’t fly down to eat it. If an expert in toads of Mesoamerica has a better identification we will be glad to update our estimate and cite the toad expert.
This toad secreted a colorful venom from its top parotid gland at the right. Both species of toads have well known what I call poison sacs behind their ears. There are also other smaller glands on their legs that I have never noticed.
This toad was the identical colors of the fallen dried leaves; so was well camouflaged.
The toad pictured in Classic Maya art is certainly the significantly larger Rhinella marina. We now have a tabulated list of every Bufo toad that is in Classic Maya art. Plus during our lectures that resulted from winning the Ig Nobel Prize 2022 for Art History, we introduced the Bufo toad as one of many potential ingredients used during the enema ritual of the 4th-9thcenturies. Bufo toxins are still consumed today and often cause death after convulsions. So obviously we do not recommend consuming the toad exudate whatsoever. Many hippies died from this in the 1960’s-1970’s since they did not know how to take it or what to mix it with. Peter De Smet will be explaining the ethnopharmacological aspects in our forthcoming FLAAR Reports on the Bufo toad that have been in preparation for many months. We are working together with epigraphers, linguists, and ethnopharmacologists. We will also ask a specialist in toads of the Americas to add a chapter on the anatomy of Bufo toads under their name.
We at FLAAR will be driving 1,100 kilometers round trip (550 km from Guatemala CIty to the national parks in the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM). Then we do field work research and photography all week. Then drive the 550 kilometers back to the office to process all the information and photographs and prepare new FLAAR Reports for students, zoologists and people interested in birds, mammals, pollinators, etc.
We have a complete web team in-house plus Alejandra Valenzuela works with them to prepare accurate readership statistics.
For later in 2023 we will be working together with an eco-tourism tour organizer to offer a workshop in photography of flora and fauna. Will be at the Yaxha part of Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo (PNYNN). Will cover telephoto photography of birds in flight, plus birds high up in tall trees. Will include macro photography of the eyes of colorful frogs and butterflies. So check back at least once a month until we have the dates and details available.
On Wednesday, 30 November, 6:30 pm (Guatemalan time), you can attend an in-person, live presentation by Nicholas Hellmuth on JAGUARS (and Pumas) in Classic Maya art.
If the zoo in your city, or a natural history museum in your city, art museum or social club would like this lecture in English, by Zoom, this can be arranged. Hellmuth is a graduate of Harvard, MA at Brown, and was Post Graduate Visiting Research Fellow at Yale for many years (over a decade). So any of these alumni associations would also be a good venue. Dr Hellmuth has lectured around the world for many decades: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UCLA, Berkeley and universities and museums across USA, Canada, Mexico and Guatemala.
While a student intern at Tikal, in 1965, Nicholas uncovered the Tomb of the Jade Jaguar, the royal crypt of the son or brother of the King who was under Temple I. The burial found by Hellmuth was across the Great Plaza under Structure 5D-73. This was his Harvard undergraduate thesis. Then decades of iconographic study resulted in learning more about the role of jaguars in Classic Maya art. Yes, the ancient Maya actually had jaguars in their palaces (as did the Aztec emperor and most imperial areas around the world had ferocious felines as “palace pets”).
