How did crocodiles and alligators survive the Ice Age?

How did crocodiles keep their heads down during K/T?

Perhaps the stubby legs and low-slung posture of crocodiles allowed them to literally “keep their heads down” during the K/T upheaval, thrive in a wide variety of climatic conditions, and avoid the fate of their dinosaur pals.

How long did crocodiles live after dinosaurs went extinct?

Within a short period of time—estimates range from a few hundred to a few thousand years—every last dinosaur, pterosaur, and marine reptile had disappeared off the face of the earth, but crocodiles, oddly enough, survived into the ensuing Cenozoic Era.

Are alligators and crocodiles endangered?

Even today, when numerous mammal, reptile, and bird species have gone extinct or are seriously endangered, alligators and crocodiles around the world continue to thrive (except for those targeted by shoe-leather makers).

What would happen if crocodiles were hunted to extinction?

For example, Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) control the barbel catfish population. If crocodiles were hunted to extinction, the voracious catfish could wipe out other fish populations, which are food sources to more than 40 species of birds.

Why didn’t crocodiles become extinct like other dinosaurs?

The reason why crocodilians didn’t become extinct during the time that non-avian dinosaurs did is because the crocodilians were less affected by the increasing surface gravity at that time. My theory ‘The Gravity Theory of Mass Extinction’ explains this: “ Why were ocean dwellers almost annihilated, while freshwater animals survived?

How did crocodiles survive the mass extinction of the mosasaurs?

However, the extinction wiped out these sea-dwelling mosasaurs, much the same as their land-dwelling neighbours. However, for some reason, freshwater rivers and lakes were less impacted by the meteor. This helped the Crocodiles survive, as their amphibious lifestyle let them roam the rivers to escape the land and sea disasters.

Why are there so many different types of crocodiles today?

The climate during the age of dinosaurs was warmer than it is today. That is why there were many more varieties of crocodile around then. Today’s crocodiles look very similar to ones from the Jurassic period – some 200 million years ago.

Are crocodiles the Ultimate Survivors of life on Earth?

Crocodiles have been dubbed the ‘ultimate survivors’. Having arisen some 200 million years ago, they have outlived the dinosaurs by some 66 million years. They have also seen off two ice ages. Even humans, the most fearsome predators ever to stalk the Earth, have failed to force any species into extinction.

How did dinosaurs evolve without extinction?

Without extinction, there is no evolution – the two are intrinsically linked. The earliest dinosaurs evolved 20m years after the Permian-Triassic losses.

Are alligators protected by the cites?

Crocodilians comprise a variety of large reptiles including alligators, crocodiles, caiman and gharials found around the world. Many of these species are threatened by the leather trade and thus are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Young American alligator.

Why are crocodiles protected by CITES?

Crocodilians comprise a variety of large reptiles including alligators, crocodiles, caiman and gharials found around the world. Many of these species are threatened by the leather trade and thus are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Did dinosaurs and turtles go extinct together?

Prehistoric turtles coexisted with dinosaurs until they went extinct 65 million years ago. These turtles belonged to a group of ancient reptiles called Archelon, which is closely called related to the leatherback sea turtle we can see these days. Why did some animals go extinct while other animals survived?

How are dinosaurs related to crocodiles?

The archosaurs then split into crocodiles, pterosaurs (flying reptiles), and dinosaurs. According to the phylogenetic system of classification, dinosaurs are the direct descendants of reptile-like amphibians that had moved from the water bodies.

Were Cretaceous crocodiles dinosaurs?

The same goes for birds (only substitute “feathers” for fur). But some Cretaceous crocodiles, like Deinosuchus, grew to respectable, even dinosaur-like sizes, and their lifestyles weren’t all that different from those of their dinosaur, pterosaur or marine reptile cousins.

How many mass extinctions have crocodiles survived?

The modern crocodile family only survived ONE mass extinction. They arose in the Cretaceous, about 90 million years ago or so, survived the KPg extinction, and that’s it. That’s the same number of mass extinctions survived by the birds. Today there are 24 known species of crocodilians, divided among 3 families.

Are dinosaurs and crocodiles lizards?

Dinosaurs and crocodiles are not advanced lizards. In fact, the last common ancestors of lizards and the dinosaur/crocodile branch lived more than 250 million years ago, at a time known as the Permian period. The Dinosaur/Crocodilian group is represented by the clade Archosauria.

What are the four types of reptiles?

Today, all reptiles are classified into four main groups. These groups are known as orders. Here are the four orders that account for the many kinds of reptiles on the planet: Crocodilia – As the name suggests, this order of reptiles includes about 23 species of crocodiles, alligators, gharials and caimans.

Are crocodiles related to dinosaurs?

They’re all descended from the archosaurs, ancient reptiles that gave rise to crocodiles, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs. They may not be dinosaurs, but crocodiles do give us a glimpse into the world of the giant reptiles that once ruled the planet.

What is a crocodile classified as?

Crocodiles are the largest reptiles in existence today. Although they look like gigantic lizards, they’re not closely related to them. They’re actually archosaurs, an ancient group of reptiles to which birds also belong. So, how many types of crocodiles are there?

Will the crocodile go extinct?

It certainly has in modern times. We haven’t lost a species of crocodile to extinction since humans have been dominant on the planet, even in the last few hundred years when our impact has been appalling. The reason appears to be in large part because crocodiles learn quickly and adapt to changes in their situation.

How long did crocodiles survive the dinosaurs?

Crocodiles are the ultimate survivors. Having arisen some 200 million years ago, they have outlived the dinosaurs by some 65 million years.

Why are crocodiles so good at surviving?

Crocodiles are the ultimate survivors. Having arisen some 200 million years ago, they have outlived the dinosaurs by some 65 million years. Even humans, the most fearsome predators ever to stalk the Earth, have failed to force into extinction any of the 23 species of crocodilians. What makes them such consummate survivors?

Did dinosaurs get bigger or smaller as they evolved?

It argued that animals would grow larger as they continued to evolve, but extinction events essentially “wiped the board clean”. Small creatures would once again have to start over in their evolutionary process from a diminutive size. Fossil record has shown that dinosaurs’ size indeed fluctuated over the course of those millions of years.

When did all dinosaurs go extinct?

But so far, not a single trace of dinosaur remains has been found in rocks younger than about 66 million years. At that point, as the Cretaceous period yielded to the Paleogene, it seems that all nonavian dinosaurs suddenly ceased to exist.

What did dinosaurs evolve from?

What did dinosaurs evolve from? Dinosaurs are a type of reptile, and they evolved from another group of reptiles called ‘dinosauromorphs’ around 250 million years ago. The dinosauromorphs were small and humble animals, and they didn’t look anything like T. rex or Brontosaurus.

What animals survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs?

And while some mammals, birds, small reptiles, fish, and amphibians survived, diversity among the remaining life-forms dropped precipitously. In total, this mass extinction event claimed three quarters of life on Earth. Over a thousand dinosaur species once roamed the Earth.