.jpg)
Most people entering
crocodile territory keep a wary eye out on water and land, but research
suggests they need to look up.
Though
the reptiles lack obvious physical features to suggest this is possible,
crocodiles in fact climb trees all the way to the crowns, according to
University of Tennessee researcher Vladimir Dinets.
Researchers
in the climbing study observed crocodiles in Australia, Africa and North America. The study
documented crocodiles climbing as high as six feet off the ground. But Dinets
said he received anecdotal reports from people who spend time around crocodiles
of the reptiles climbing almost 30 feet.
Dinets said
crocodiles lack the toe and foot structure that would be expected of a climber.
However, smaller and juvenile crocodiles in particular were observed climbing
vertically while larger ones tended to climb angled trunks and branches, all of
which is a measure of the reptiles' spectacular agility, he said.
"They just
go slowly," he said. "Eventually they get there."
The finding
was reported in January in Herpetology Notes in collaboration with Adam Britton
from Charles Darwin University in Australia and
Matthew Shirley from the University of Florida.
The
researchers believe the crocodiles climb to keep a lookout on their territory
and to warm themselves in the sun.
"The
most frequent observations of tree-basking were in areas where there were few
places to bask on the ground, implying that the individuals needed alternatives
for regulating their body temperature," the authors wrote.
"Likewise,
their wary nature suggests that climbing leads to improved site surveillance of
potential threats and prey."
People who
spend time around crocodiles have known about the climbing ability for decades,
Dinets said, but this study is the first to thoroughly examine the climbing and
basking behavior.
Dinets also
was co-author of a widely reported study in 2013 that demonstrated crocodiles
used sticks and twigs to hunt, balancing nest-building material on their snouts
just above the water line to lure birds. The crocodiles lay in wait for hours
and lunged when a bird ventured near.
That finding
was the first reported use of tools by
any reptile and the first known case of predators timing the use of lures to a
seasonal behavior in their prey, according to a University of Tennessee press
release at the time.
The latest
climbing study suggests paleontologists studying extinct species should be
cautious about drawing conclusions from fossils, adds Dinets.
"If
crocodiles were extinct and you only knew them from fossils, you wouldn't be
able to guess they climb trees because they don't have any physical
adaptations," Dinets said.
"Assumptions
based on fossils, he said, can be "far less correct than people
think."
.jpg)