A word in your ear, but make it snappy

To most, crocodiles conjure images of sharp teeth, powerful jaws and ferocious, predatory displays - but they are certainly not famous for their hearing abilities. However, this could all change, as new research is shedding light on the reptiles' ears, showcasing their evolution from the reign of the dinosaurs to the era of Crocodile Dundee . Dr Felipe Montefeltro is currently undertaking research into the otic region of fossilised crocodyliforms at the University of Birmingham as part of a three month postdoctoral fellowship. Crocodiles have been around in one form or another for 200 million years but little is known about the evolution of their ears during this time. Along with concurrent research, Dr Montefeltro's work could also provide clues as to why the reptiles have survived for so long, whilst other creatures such as dinosaurs died out. Dr Montefeltro's work sees him initially dissect ears from extant crocodilians to understand the morphology of these structures. The second step sees him compare the information from the extant species to as many fossil groups as possible to determine the evolutionary implications of the observed variation.