Researchers have found that both crocodiles and alligators can climb trees and reach up to the crown. Lead researcher Vladimir Dinets of Tennessee's psychology department was the first to study the tree climbing and basking behavior of the reptiles. 

Dinets and colleagues Adam Britton and Mathew Shirley observed crocodiles in three different continents namely Australia, Africa and North America and, recorded four different species that climbed trees.

Tree climbing and basking are determined by two conditions: thermoregulation and surveillance of habitat.

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The reptiles used trees to examine the area and control their body temperatures when there wasn't sufficient or safe enough basking space on dry ground, the researchers said. As proof of the trees as a surveillance post, the reptiles would jump into the water the moment they noticed any observer.

"The most frequent observations of tree-basking were in areas where there were few places to bask on the ground, implying that the individuals needed alternatives for regulating their body temperature," the authors wrote. "Likewise, their wary nature suggests that climbing leads to improved site surveillance of potential threats and prey."

Crocodiles can climb trees all the way to the crowns. The height climbed upward and outward varied by their sizes.  Smaller crocodiles were able to climb higher and further than the larger ones.

"Climbing a steep hill or steep branch is mechanically similar, assuming the branch is wide enough to walk on," the authors wrote.  "Still, the ability to climb vertically is a measure of crocodiles' spectacular agility on land."

This study offers evidence that a few crocodile species can climb trees despite having limbs that are not suited for this task.

It will help paleontologists, especially those studying extinct crocodiles or other Archosaurian taxa, to focus on changes in fossils.

"These results should be taken into account by paleontologists who look at changes in fossils to shed light on behavior," said Dinets. "This is especially true for those studying extinct crocodiles or other Archosaurian taxa."

The finding was published in the journal Herpetology Notes.

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