ears or ear plugs are shown
one on each side behind the eyes. There are few other examples of full
drawings of the crocodile in the Maya writings. Dresden 74 shows an
animal which has been considered to represent a crocodile or alligator
but it seems to have more of the characteristics of a lizard.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.
TOP OF ALTAR. T. COPAN.]

Figures of a crocodile (_Crocodilus americanus_) are frequent in the
Nuttall Codex, where there is one large figure of the entire animal (Pl.
13, fig. 8), making its way along under water. It is shown with numerous
dorsal spines, a long tail, and powerful claws. Curiously, however, it
has no lower jaw and the same is true of the numerous glyphs
representing the head of the animal. This is so pronounced a
characteristic, that it may be doubted if the open-mouthed head and the
single limb shown in Pl. 13, fig. 2, really picture the same animal,
though otherwise apparently referable to the crocodile. In the various
glyphs showing the head of this species, the prominent, elongate eyebrow
and the absence of the lower jaw are noteworthy points, while the teeth
may vary in number from three to six.

The glyphs (Pl. 13, figs. 1, 3-7) represent the Nahua day sign
_Cipactli_ corresponding to the Maya day _Imix_. In the band of
constellation signs in Dresden 52b (Pl. 13, fig. 10), there occurs a
single figure with a long curled eyebrow and lacking the lower jaw. In
the upper jaw three teeth are indicated. A comparison of this figure
with the glyphs in the Nuttall Codex seems to leave little doubt that it
represents a crocodile. This is the sign which Foerstemann (1906, p. 206)
interprets as standing for Saturn. Pl. 13, fig. 12, is certainly the
same sign as it stands in relatively the same position in the
constellation band on Dresden 53a. It represents the highly
conventionalized head of a crocodile. On Stela 10 from Piedras Negras
(Maler, 1901-1903, Pl. 19) the same glyph is seen.

The range of the alligator in North America does not extend to Yucatan,
hence the crocodile, which does occur there, is taken as the original of
all these figures. There is nothing in the latter that would distinguish
it from the alligator.

TURTLES. Representations of the turtle (Maya, _ak_) are not uncommon
among the Mayas. At Uxmal there is a ruined building called _Casa de las
Tortugas_ on which at intervals around the cornice there are carvings of
turtles. Turtles of at least two species occur in