Safari-Tember Day 18 - Nile Crocodile

In Lake Tanganyika. Lunella Lafayette (AKA Moon Girl) and her dinosaur companion, Devil Dinosaur are having an encounter with a nile crocodile. The crocodile has its jaws wide open, revealing over 64 sharply pointed, cone shaped teeth. Devil Dinosaur thinks the crocodile is trying to threaten them, so he bears his equally impressive teeth at the cold-blooded reptile. But in reality, the crocodile is really just trying to cool down. Nile crocodiles open their mouths as a way to release heat from their body. It's similar to a dog panting to cool down. Crocodilians have evolved to maximize heat gain and minimize water loss. Basically, they can't sweat like humans do. They evolved other methods of cooling, by opening their mouths and essentially sweating through their mouths.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (c) Disney/Marvel