Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Rycyk, Athena

Area of Concentration

Animal Wellbeing and Conservation

Abstract

Out of the extant reptilians, crocodilians are the most vocal (Vergne et al, 2009). Crocodiles use vocalizations for social interactions, such as courting and territorial defense (Vergne et al, 2012), as well as distress or threat calls (Boucher et al, 2020). There are two types of crocodiles living in Belize, the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and the Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii), and they have been hypothesized to interbreed based on genetic evidence and morphological traits of both species being exhibited in individuals (Ray et al, 2004). The overall aim of this project was to analyze the structure of calls made by both American crocodiles and Morelet’s crocodiles and to analyze any differences between the calls made by both species. Crocodiles were temporarily captured and restrained during ongoing capture surveys, and any vocalizations made during capture were recorded. Morphometric data was also collected during this time. Afterward, each recording underwent acoustic analysis in RavenPro to determine the sound structure of each call.

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