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Crocodilian Bait Hunting

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Crocodilians using hunting tools; Crocodilians using lures

Definition

Crocodilian bait hunting refers to crocodilians (crocodiles and alligators) using various lures to attract their prey.

Introduction

Use of objects as hunting lures is very rare among animals. Until recently it has been known only in captive capuchin monkeys, a few bird species, and one insect (Shumaker et al. 2011). There were a few observations of saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) using fish prey leftovers as bait for birds (Shumaker et al. 2011) and of Orinoco crocodile (C. intermedius) using prey leftovers as bait for vultures (Dinets 2013), but in these cases it was unclear if baiting was intentional or accidental.

Dinets et al. (2013) found that at least two species of crocodilians use small sticks to attract and catch birds.

Mugger crocodiles (C. palustris) in India and American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in Florida were observed floating with sticks positioned across their snouts...

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References

  • Dinets, V. (2013). Dragon songs: Love and adventure among crocodiles, alligators & other dinosaur relations. New York: Arcade.

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  • Dinets, V. (2015). Play behavior in crocodilians. Animal Behavior & Cognition, 2, 49–55.

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  • Dinets, V., Brueggen, J. C., & Brueggen, J. D. (2013). Crocodilians use tools for hunting. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 27, 74–78.

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  • Doody, J. S., Burghardt, G. M., & Dinets, V. (2013). Breaking the social-nonsocial dichotomy: A role for reptiles in vertebrate social behaviour research? Ethology, 118, 1–9.

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  • McIver, S. B. (2003). Death in the everglades: The murder of Guy Bradley, America’s First Martyr to environmentalism. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

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  • Shumaker, R. W., Walkup, K. R., & Beck, B. B. (2011). Animal tool behavior: The use and manufacture of tools by animals. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Vladimir Dinets

Authors
  1. Vladimir Dinets
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vladimir Dinets .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Dinets, V. (2016). Crocodilian Bait Hunting. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3172-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3172-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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