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Tasty Tears
This caiman’s colorful crown of butterflies looks magical, but it’s actually the result of a very normal craving: salt. Butterflies, moths, and other insects need salt to survive, but their plant-based diets don’t always provide enough. Human sweat and reptilian tears—such as the caiman’s—can be a source of scarce minerals and protein. While drinking, the butterflies don’t hurt the caiman. But it sure looks like it tickles!
An average caiman is 8.2 feet long. An average butterfly’s wingspan is 3.7 inches long. How many butterflies could fit along the length of a caiman’s back side-by-side, rounded to the nearest whole butterfly?