It’s Not A Crock! Crocodiles Can Climb Trees
Published at
iStock/Thinkstock(KNOXVILLE, Tenn.) — Here’s something that probably won’t make you sleep better at night: crocodiles can climb trees.
That breaking news comes courtesy of research assistant professor Vladimir Dinets, who works in the Department of Psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Just what this has to do with psychology is anyone’s guess. Nevertheless, Dinets and his team are believed to be the first academics to study this phenomenon.
What they found after examining crocodiles on three continents including North America, is that four species can actually climb trees, getting as high as 13 feet and then going out as far as 16 feet along branches.
Dinets and his colleagues also learned that smaller crocs climb higher and whenever they know they’re being watched, the reptiles will fall or jump into the water to escape detection.
As for why some crocodiles climb trees, the researchers believe it has to with regulating their body temperatures as well as getting a birds-eye view of their prey and their enemies.
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio