Reptiles as romantic: A surprising study on the ‘love language’ of alligators

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The study, which looked at the expressions and “love language” of reptiles, found that males squirt water from their noses, make hissing noises and create water bubbles, among other things, to impress their loved ones. The university quoted Sonnie Flores, the head of the study, as saying, “And women love it too!” he said.

The researcher installed cameras and acoustic recorders in crocodile enclosures at Australia Zoo to decipher the language of saltwater crocodiles as part of the twelve-month project. The private zoo north of Brisbane was run for many years by television star Steve Irwin, known worldwide for his TV series “The Crocodile Hunter”. Since his death in 2006, his widow and two children, Bindi and Robert Irwin, have continued to operate the zoo, which was also the focus of the popular reality show “The Irwins.”

The study found that females were more likely to growl, especially when defending the nest, while males used their noses like geysers. Ecologist Ross Dwyer likened this behavior to “whales surfacing and spraying water into the air.” For the male crocodile, this is a form of courtship. “It’s as if they were singing a love song to their partners in their circle before mating.”

Some animals also used their heads above water as a kind of drum set. A lot of communication also happens below the water’s surface, Dwyer said. The new findings will help to better understand the animals’ behavior, movements, relationships with each other and ecology. “We can then use this information to support government and conservation strategies in dealing with these animals.”

In the future, artificial intelligence also needs to be trained to recognize crocodile sounds and better monitor their populations.

The records will primarily contribute to the creation of a “crocodile dictionary”. “We discovered that alligators are probably a little more social and tolerant of each other than we thought,” Flores said. This also raises questions about what impact removing a crocodile from its habitat has on the broader social hierarchy in the ecosystem. “So far we have only touched the tip of the iceberg,” the researcher is convinced.

(SDA)

Source : Blick