Recent studies have discovered that crocodiles can actually climb, after observing the creatures basking in trees.
Their abilities vary between species and depending on size, with smaller crocs reaching the higher branches. It is believed that they do this not only to bask in the sun, but also to survey their area with a better vantage point, to be on the look out for prey, predators and competitors.
The finding may have implications for the study of extinct animals from fossils, as little about the skeletons of living crocodiles suggests that they have climbing ability.
Dr Paul Willis, director of the Royal Institute of Australia, in Adelaide, is a palaeontologist who published research on the possibility of extinct tree-dwelling crocodiles in the 1990s. He says that the idea was met with bemusement at the time, so the new finding is a pleasant surprise.
Cold Blood 