Muggers or Indian marsh crocodiles on the Savitri River in Maharashtra
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Flowers of a selected variety enchant the mugger or Indian marsh crocodile, “underestimated” like all different reptiles due to the small measurement and easy construction of their mind, a brand new study has discovered.
Observing the muggers (Crocodylus palustris) of Savitri River in Maharashtra from 2014 to May 2023, zoologists Utkarsh M. Chavan and Manoj R. Borkar discovered that the crocodiles have been attracted to marigolds, typically basking, floating, or mendacity in shut contact with garlands discarded from choices to corpses introduced to the riverbank for cremation.
The former is related to the Zoology Department in Mumbai’s Hazarimal Somani College and the latter with the identical division in Goa’s Carmel College of Arts, Science and Commerce for Women.
The zoologists performed their study on the Kemburli, Mohalla, Dadli, and Smashaan (cremation floor) stretches of the river in Raigad district’s Mahad city. Their findings have been revealed within the August subject of the Journal of Threatened Taxa.
Various species of crocodiles are identified to use floating particles within the water as play objects and present curiosity in them. There have been experiences of captive Cuban crocodiles and Western African dwarf crocodiles taking part in with pink bougainvillaea flowers, selecting them up, pushing them round, and carrying them within the tooth or the tip of the snout.
“Though play behaviour of crocodiles was not the focus of this investigation, it was regularly observed that the muggers in Smashaan region floated, basked, and lay in the vicinity of yellow or orange marigold flowers (Tagetes erecta),” the study mentioned whereas noting the muggers ignored or attacked different floating objects.
The marigold flower garlands find yourself within the Smashaan stretch of the river from choices to the corpses introduced for cremation.
Petal safety?
Unlike the Cuban and the African dwarf crocodiles’ tendency to play with bougainvillaea, the muggers didn’t appear to manipulate the marigold flowers. They simply lay within the neighborhood of the floating garlands of those flowers or mendacity on the riverbank, typically with bodily contact, the zoologists discovered.
A mugger or Indian marsh crocodile seen nudging towards discarded marigold flowers on the financial institution of the Savitri River in Maharashtra
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Though it had been established that crocodiles have subtle color imaginative and prescient, the zoologists discovered the behaviour of the Savitri River muggers “novel and intriguing, requiring further experimental enquiry and validation using established criteria for play behaviour”.
“It is noteworthy that petals of marigolds are known to have antimicrobial compounds with potent bacteriostatic properties against dermal pathogens, including fungi, gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Given that stretches of Savitri have been contaminated with sewage, the muggers here are susceptible to a host of opportunistic pathogens. It is surmised that their contact with the marigold flowers could alleviate much of their topical bacterial load,” the study mentioned.
The muggers, which occupy freshwater habitats resembling rivers, lakes, marshes, artifical reservoirs, and irrigation canals, have been additionally discovered to bask in neighborhood fishing by making a whirlpool within the water for the fishes to focus and use baits or lures resembling twigs on their snouts to hunt birds.
Sentient behaviour
The zoologists recorded two incidents the place the muggers preyed upon stray canines often seen to transfer amongst the basking reptiles with out eliciting any hostility from them.
But what intrigued them was an occasion the place two muggers nudged and guided a canine stranded within the river to the protection of the financial institution. This canine, most likely having strayed past its territory, was chased by a pack of feral canines into the river.
Three muggers moved towards the canine in what “initially seemed to be a classical predatory instinct” towards a hapless prey, however two muggers guided the canine away from the location the place it might have been weak to assault by the pack of feral canines ready on the river financial institution.
“These crocodiles were actually touching the dog with their snout and nudging it to move further for a safe ascent on the bank and eventually escape,” the study mentioned.
Reptiles have obtained little consideration when it comes to animal sentience, the zoologists mentioned.
“We propose this to be a case of sentient behaviour of the mugger resulting in cross-species emotional empathy, which is not a very extensively investigated behaviour, though the capacity of one species to experience the emotional feelings of another species merits recognition,” they mentioned.
