By Susan Milius
Alligators turn out to have an unappreciated power organ for maneuvering underwater: their lungs.
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Four sets of muscles in the lower part of the gator torso clench during particular phases of diving and rolling, says T.J. Uriona of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. These moves squeeze the lungs around in the body cavity, changing buoyancy and tipping the animal’s body this way and that.