The results of a study performed by French biologists Amelie Vergne and Nicolas Mathevon of the Jean Monet University, shed some light on the reasons why baby crocodiles emit a specific sound before they hatch.

Researchers divided the three-day-old eggs of a mother crocodile into three lots. When the time for them to hatch came, one lot was played a recording of another group of baby crocodiles getting ready to hatch; the second group was played a recording containing nothing but noises and the third group was left in silence. 

While the baby crocodiles from the first group were able to synchronize and hatch almost simultaneously, the ones from the other two groups recorded differentiated timings.

Another part of the study focused on the mother crocodile’s reaction to the sounds coming from the still-unhatched babies. In 8 out of 10 cases, the female started digging out the eggs when she heard the babies crying out.

Earlier this year, a study conducted by biologists at the University of Utah discovered that alligators have found a second purpose for their lungs: they use them not only for breathing, but also for swimming, as these organs appear to help them to better glide up to prey.

At the beginning of 2008, another study related to alligators, caimans and crocodiles was published; it showed how they use an extra heart valve in order to aid in swift digestion.

These creatures have remained basically unchanged all throughout their existence and mainly for this reason, they have arroused a lot of interest; many scientists want to find out how their systems function and how they managed to become such successful species.