[iagesource:pixabay]

Results published by a team of bioacoustics researchers at the University of Saint-Etienne in France have shown that crocodiles respond ‘immediately’ to the sound of babies crying, and it’s as unsettling as it is sweet (kinda).

In their study, reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, the group tested crocodile reactions to recordings of babies crying at CrocoParc in Agadir, Morocco.

Prior research has shown that crocodiles tend to respond to the sound of distress in prey—they perk up and often head toward the sound hoping for a quick and easy meal. But this latest research shows that they also react to species that don’t fall into the ‘dinner’ category.

To find out, they compiled a collection of recordings of babies of multiple species crying or yelling out in distress.  Human recordings included crying infants at home and at a paediatric office as they received vaccinations.

The team then played these recordings at a site that houses nearly 300 crocs, watching and recording the reactions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all the crocs reacted immediately to the cries, especially at the sounds of distressed babies.

What was notable was that a female croc who was first to reach the scene whipped around immediately and faced off the others, in what researchers say is typical of the protective behaviour these nightmare-inducing creatures display when protecting their own young.

Now this does not mean that a mother crocodile will swaddle and protect a distressed baby when they hear its cries. It’ll most likely get chomped up. However, the research does prove that even a cold-blooded reptilian brain has a built-in instinct to protect babies – regardless of the species.

Bioacoustics research is a fascinating field of study that doesn’t always get into the limelight. Much of their focus tends to be on the cries of infants, and every now and then, surprising results pop up.

For instance, there is proof that the pitch of a crying baby could be used to predict what that child would sound like as a five-year-old. Also, they’ve found that if an infant’s index finger on the right hand is longer than the ring finger, the baby will likely to grow up to have a high-pitched voice.

Fascinating stuff. Except for the crocodile part, that’s just creepy.

[source:phys.org]