Crocodile

9th January 2024

Photo Credit: IPumbaImages (Getty Images), CANVA

O, devil, devil!

If that the earth could teem with women’s tears,

Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile,

Out of my sight!

OTHELLO: Othello, Act 4, Scene 1

CROCODILE (Crocodylus species)

Shakespeare includes references to the ancient legend that Crocodiles shed false tears, as or after they eat their victims, in Othello and Henry VI Part 2, and Anthony and Cleopatra. This legend is found in Roman writers including Livy, medieval writers including John Mandeville in the 14th century, and in Shakespeare’s contemporary, Edward Topsell, in 1607.

Crocodiles are reptiles with a very ancient lineage on earth and there are Crocodylus species in Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Americas. They can live in both freshwater and salt water environments. The Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is found throughout African in mainly fresh water habitats. Crocodiles are apex predators, highly adapted for taking a wide range of prey. Crocodile can shed tears but the reasons are believed to be physiological rather than emotional.

More Information

BBC Natural Histories: Crocodile

Folger Shakespeare Library: Search Shakespeare’s Works

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): Crocodiles

Natural History Museum: Unravelling the surprising complex history of crocodiles.

Perseus Digital Library: Crocodile Tears in Livy, History of Rome (38:14)

Topsell, E., 1607, History of Four Footed Beasts (accessed via Archive.org)