July 4: Saltwater Crocodile Embryo (Crocodylus porosus) 185/365

Saturday July 4 2009
Here We Go Again! The Continuing Life Of A Melbourne Multimedia Designer

Last time I was at Wunderkammer, they sold the very last of these. I made a mental note to revisit someday and today was the day.

I am now the proud owner of this croc! So morbidly cool!

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The embryo of the Saltwater Crocodile, (Crocodylus porosus) takes 80-90 days to outgrow the egg and hatch. All this time the developing embryo is feeding from the yolk inside the egg.

Towards the end of the incubation period the skin of the crocodile is forming and prior to hatching the skin in the stomach area grows around the yolk sac.

This remaining yolk is a food supply that will keep the hatchling alive for up to one month, so the crocodile baby is born with its own food supply - a great survival strategy.

As the hatchling absorbs the yolk the stomach skin finally comes together and forms an umbilical scar equivalent to our navel. Every scar is unique as it involves a number of scales that from individual patterns along the scar line. The remaining yolk sac ends up as a small pimple attached to the small intestine and eventually disappears altogether.

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