Researchers from the University of Tennessee have discovered that some crocodile species are able to climbing trees, according to a news release issued by the university.
The discovery was made after researchers from the university analyzed crocodiles from Australia, Africa, and North America.
Vladimir Dinets, research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, and his colleagues, are the first to carefully study tree-climbing crocodiles.
They found that four different species were capable of climbing trees, including Siamese crocodiles, Central African slender-snouted crocodiles, American alligator, and Philippine crocodiles.
Smaller crocodiles are able to climb trees faster than bigger ones as well.
"Climbing a steep hill or steep branch is mechanically similar, assuming the branch is wide enough to walk on," the authors wrote in their study. "Still, the ability to climb vertically is a measure of crocodiles' spectacular agility on land."
The study was published in Herpetology Notes. Click here to read more about the news.
Despite being able to climb trees, when the crocodiles felt threatened, they still jumped back into the water, according to the study. This has caused researchers to believe the reptiles climb trees for surveillance of habitat or thermoregulation.
"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."
The research also means that at least some of the crocodile species are able to climb trees despite not having any morphological adaptations.
Dinets worked with Matthew Shirley from the University of Florida, and Adam Britton from Charles Darwin University in Australia.
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