The rheological behavior in a two-dimensional Couette flow simulated using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is studied. Newtonian behavior is found to be conditional and shear thinning is significant, leading to a non-linear relationship between apparent viscosity and shear rate, which can be well described by the Sisko model. The transient layered structure of particles with corresponding distortion in velocity profile is observed. The possibility of utilizing this inherent property of SPH for the simulation of non-Newtonian fluids is prospected finally. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.