Crocodile at the waters-edge looking at me
The word "lurking" comes to mind.
Crocs are not fully aquatic, but semi- aquatic. They require land to dry off their skin and fulfill their thermodynamic requirements. If you see a croc on land, don’t be afraid! He or she is just soaking up some rays and enjoying the day.
The heart of a crocodile is an amazing organ, the most complex in the animal kingdom. They're the only reptile to have a 4 chambered heart that can drop as low as 2 beats per minute during extended dives. Controlling blood flow through the body allows crocs to stay submerged for hours at a time if need be while resting on the bottom, and can also divert blood flow to the digestive system to aid in the breaking down of large meals.
The complexity of a crocodilians heart cannot be understated, it is one of the contributing factors to why crocodilians are the perfectly evolved predators that they are.
Photograph by Jan Meerman
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