Crocodiles could be the secret to curing deafness.
Crocodiles could hold the key to curing hearing loss in humans
The reptiles often live beyond 70 years of age but do not lose their sense of hearing and scientists believe it is due to the ability to regrow tiny hairs in their ears - which humans lose.
A team from Sweden are now trying to find out how it happens and hope their research will help the 1.2 billion people worldwide who suffer from a loss of hearing, particularly as crocodiles have excellent hearing on land and underwater.
Helge Rask-Andersen, professor of experimental otology at Uppsala University, said: "New hair cells seem to be formed from the activation of so-called support cells.
"Our hypothesis is that nerves that carry impulses from the brain, so-called efferent nerves, trigger the regrowth."
Professor Rask-Andersen added: "Our hope is to learn how crocodiles regenerate their hair cells and to eventually be able to use that on people in the future."