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New York City squirrels have been seen 'splooting' - this means lying very flat with their belly to the ground and arms and legs spread out.

It looks a little odd or even funny, so much so that passers by have been uploading photos of them to social media with the hashtag 'splooting'.

But as entertaining as it may look, its actually a really effective way for the squirrels to keep cool.

Squirrels aren't the only ones to do it either, many other animals have shown similar behaviours.

Many small mammals have less fur on their bellies so lying flat on their bellies on a cool surface helps them regulate their body temperature.

For this reason in summer they can often be seen lying on shaded ground or cool rocks.

The New York City Parks Department even shared a post on social media telling people not to be alarmed if they came across a splooting squirrel.

"If you see a squirrel lying down like this, don't worry it's just fine. On hot days, squirrels keep cool by splooting (stretching out) on cool surfaces to reduce body heat. It is sometimes referred to as heat dumping", the post read.

The term is said to come from Doggo language, a form of canine-inspired internet-speak whose words have in some cases been adopted into everyday use when they become widely used.

Squirrels and corgis aren't the only mammals that 'sploot' foxes, chipmunks, rabbits and raccoons are also known to cool off on their bellies!