A doctoral student at the University of Maryland has discovered what had previously eluded the experts—pressure receptors on the snouts of alligators, which enable them to detect the movement of prey in the water. Lining the jaws of alligators and other reptiles of the crocodilian family are tiny bumps that look like pinprick-sized dots. Biologist Daphne Soares discovered that they are actually tiny pressure-detecting mounds that allow these reptiles to detect small disturbances on the water surface around them. “Crocodilians hunt at night, half-submerged in water, waiting for prey to disrupt the water surface. Their jaw rests right at the interface of air and water,” explains Soares. “When they’re hungry, they quickly attack anything that disturbs that interface.” The dome pressure receptors, as she has named them, are so sensitive that they can detect the impact of a single drop of water.
A doctoral student at the University of Maryland has discovered what had previously eluded the experts—pressure receptors on the snouts of alligators, which enable them to detect the movement of prey in the water. Lining the jaws of alligators and other reptiles of the crocodilian family are tiny bumps that look like pinprick-sized dots. Biologist Daphne Soares discovered that they are actually tiny pressure-detecting mounds that allow these reptiles to detect small disturbances on the water surface around them. “Crocodilians hunt at night, half-submerged in water, waiting for prey to disrupt the water surface. Their jaw rests right at the interface of air and water,” explains Soares. “When they’re hungry, they quickly attack anything that disturbs that interface.” The dome pressure receptors, as she has named them, are so sensitive that they can detect the impact of a single drop of water.