Croc nerves to help understand ancient animals

Apr 07, 2013 |

Scientists have measured super-sensitive crocodilian facial nerves to better understand how today’s animals, as well as dinosaurs and crocodiles that lived millions of years ago, interact with their environment.

Crocodilians have nerves on their faces that are so sensitive, they can detect a change in a pond when a single drop hits the water surface several feet away. Alligators and crocodiles use these “invisible whiskers” to detect prey when hunting.
“The trigeminal nerve is the nerve responsible for detection of sensations of the face,” said Casey Holliday, assistant professor of anatomy in the University of Missouri School of Medicine. “While we’ve known about these sensitive nerves in crocodiles, we’ve never measured the size of the nerve bundle or ganglion in their skulls, until now. When compared to humans, this trigeminal nerve in crocodiles is huge,” Holliday said.

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