Neurology: an ancient sensory organ in crocodilians |
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Authors: | Soares Daphne |
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Institution: | Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA. daph@wam.umd.edu |
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Abstract: | Crocodilians hunt at night, waiting half-submerged for land-bound prey to disturb the water surface. Here I show that crocodilians have specialized sensory organs on their faces that can detect small disruptions in the surface of the surrounding water, and which are linked to a dedicated, hypertrophied nerve system. Such 'dome' pressure receptors are also evident in fossils from the Jurassic period, indicating that these semi-aquatic predators solved the problem of combining armour with tactile sensitivity many millions of years ago. |
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