[Aztlan] American Crocodiles

[David Hixson]

Paul Troemer wrote -  "I've removed the typical "crocodile" glossing for Cipactl and Imix since there are no crocodiles in the western hemisphere (except in zoos)."
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Listeros,

For an unknown reason, this is a popular misconception among Mesoamericanists.  There are in fact multiple species of crocodiles in the Americas, and some of them are likely represented in the art and epigraphy of the Aztecs and Maya.

For the sake of this discussion I don't include the Alligator (SE U.S.) and Caiman (Central and S. America), both of the order Crocodilia and family Alligatoridae, but instead only members of the family Crocodylidae, and genus Crocodylus.

Crocodiles are in fact common throughout the tropics and wetlands of the Americas, including one species that is commonly known as the "Mexican Crocodile" (Crocodylus moreletii) which is prevelant in the Gulf Coast region.  And the "American Crocodile" (Crocodylus acutus), which extends from Mexico to northern Peru, Cuba and southern Florida.

Having listened to epigraphers and art historians who believed as Paul stated that Cipactli cannot represent "crocodile" because none exist in Mesoamerica, I was surprised to find many crocodiles on my survey of the wetlands of western Yucatan and Campeche -- and to find that these were not a recently introduced species.  However, I would assert that most scribes and artists in ancient Mesoamerica that represented crocodilians in their art and writing may have lumped crocodiles and alligators together (they were not necessarily on board with a Lynnaean taxonomic scheme).  Therefore I would accept either as a gloss for Cipactli, or perhaps argue for the term "crocodilian" indicating the larger order of Crocodilia that encompasses all genera.

[FUN FACT -- In the category of "do not try this at home" -- I was shown by my Maya guides that if you encounter a lagoon with crocodiles, you can take a long branch and make a switch out of it, then slap the top of the water in order to make the adult crocodiles growl.  This is likely due to the fact that adult males slap the surface of the water with their tails in order to assert their dominance.]

-Dave
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David R. Hixson
Aztlan Co-Moderator