Dan and Casey talk to PhD Candidate Sonnie Flores about her work on saltwater crocodile acoustic communication and behaviour.
REFERENCES
Sonnie's Paper
Flores, S.A., Dwyer, R.G., Parsons, S., Potvin, D.A., 2026. Roars, Rumbles, and Resonance: A
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Crocodylian Acoustic Signals. Ecology and Evolution 16,
e72494. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72494
Formants and honesty in alligator acoustic signals
Reber, S.A., Janisch, J., Torregrosa, K., Darlington, J., Vliet, K.A., Fitch, W.T., 2017. Formants provide
honest acoustic cues to body size in American alligators. Scientific reports 7, 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-01948-1
Reber, S.A., Nishimura, T., Janisch, J., Robertson, M., Fitch, W.T., 2015. A Chinese alligator in heliox:
formant frequencies in a crocodilian. J Exp Biol 218, 2442–2447. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.119552
Potential individuality in alligator bellows
Jensen, T.R., Anikin, A., Osvath, M., Reber, S.A., 2024. Knowing a fellow by their bellow: acoustic
individuality in the bellows of the American alligator. Animal behaviour 207, 157–167.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.11.009
Call frequency decreases as hatchlings age
Vergne, A.L., Avril, A., Martin, S., Mathevon, N., 2007. Parent-offspring communication in the Nile
crocodile Crocodylus niloticus: Do newborns’ calls show an individual signature? Die
Naturwissenschaften 94, 49–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0156-4
Sequences of courtship displays varies among species, but the elements that are displayed stay the
same
Garrick, L.D., Lang, J.W., 1977. Social Signals and Behaviors of Adult Alligators and Crocodiles.
American zoologist 17, 225–239. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/17.1.225
Crocodilians adjust signals due to habitat type – but evidence for this is conflicting as one paper supports this and the other does not
Dinets, V., 2013. Do individual crocodilians adjust their signaling to habitat structure? Ethology,
ecology & evolution 25, 174–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2012.744358
Dinets, V., 2013. Long-Distance Signaling in Crocodylia. Copeia 2013, 517–526.
https://doi.org/10.1643/CE-12-125
Behaviours differ between captive and wild American alligators
Walsh, Z.C., Olson, H., Clendening, M., Rycyk, A., 2022. Social Behavior Deficiencies in Captive
American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3,
131–146. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg3010011
Gharial pops show differences in individual identity and context based on temporal parameters
Ajji M, J., Lang, J.W., 2025. Gharial acoustic signaling: Novel underwater pops are temporally based,
context-dependent, seasonally stable, male-specific, and individually distinctive. Journal of anatomy.
https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.14171
Low frequency signals produced by the African dwarf crocodile
Staniewicz, A., McCabe, G., Holderied, M., 2023. The low-frequency vocal repertoire of adult African
dwarf crocodiles. African Journal of Herpetology 1–16.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21564574.2023.2237035
