Crocodiles and alligators are clever enough to use traps to lure their prey, the International Business Times reported.
Researchers at the University of Tennessee found that reptiles are more intelligent than previously thought. In the study, researchers observed some species of crocodilia luring birds with twigs and sticks, particularly during nest-building times.
"This study changes the way crocodiles have historically been viewed," Vladimir Dinets, research assistant at university's Department of Psychology, said in a statement. "They are typically seen as lethargic, stupid and boring but now they are known to exhibit flexible multimodal signaling, advanced parental care and highly coordinated group hunting tactics."
Dinets first observed mugger crocodiles and American alligators were luring their prey with sticks in 2007 when he was watching them lying in shallow water along the edge of a pond in India.
He saw small sticks and twigs positioned across the crocodilia's snouts. The alligators were attempting to fool unsuspecting birds into venturing on to their jaws to collect them. The crocodiles remained still for hours and if a bird neared the stick, they would lunge.
Shortly after, Dinets and his colleagues performed systematic observations of the reptiles for one year at four sites in Louisiana to see if the stick-displaying was a form of clever predation.
The researchers observed a significant increase in alligators displaying sticks on their snouts from March to May, the time birds were building nests.
According to a press release the university released, the group's observations could mean the oractice is more widespread within the reptilian group and could also shed light on how crocodiles' extinct relatives - dinosaurs - behaved.
"Our research provides a surprising insight into previously unrecognized complexity of extinct reptile behavior," Dinets said. "These discoveries are interesting not just because they show how easy it is to underestimate the intelligence of even relatively familiar animals, but also because crocodilians are a sister taxon of dinosaurs and flying reptiles."
The study, which is reportedly the first report to show tool use by any reptile, was published in the journal Ethology, Ecology and Evolution.
