Plutarch and the Crocodile Belly Eater

In the third century a d, geographer gaius solinus wrote a popular book entitled the wonders of the world. But when he described the crocodile belly eater, he called it after the greek word for otter and hydras. Over dozens of translations and commentaries, this word became mingled to coccadrill or cocatrilles. And finally, in 12 62, the italian philosopher brunetto lattini writes up his version the cockatris. By the mid thirteenth century, the whole story was an impenetrable, globular mess. The eggs might hatch into killer snakes, or else feathered roosters with serpent