Evolution Of Crocodiles

 

The Crocodile is one of the least changed reptiles from the age of dinosaurs.  Many crocodiles today have some of the same features as early crocodiles.  Crocodiles have evolved over time, but not as much as other animals.  The build of crocodiles has changed over time from the start of crocodiles to the later developed too.

Crocodiles have evolved over time, and their shaped and build has changed.  First, a crocodiles jaw had been one of the first things that had developed.  Next, Crocodiles limbs are different from many; they had started by walking on their hind legs, but later developed the other two and started to walk on all fours.  This is why their back legs are longer than the front.   Finally, crocodiles had started to swim when they ventured close to water and had long bodies, narrow jaws, and splayed limbs.  The shape and build of crocodiles had changed over time.  There are many different builds to crocodiles and it had come from many different species.

There were many different species that were similar to a crocodile, and later evolved.  First, the Rutiodin had a sleek nose and had a crocodile-like body, but had nostrils on the top of its head.  Next, the Mystriosuchus was a 13 foot long animal that had a long narrow snout with many teeth like a crocodile.  Finally the Erpetocuchus was about one foot long and only a few pounds, it is also a possibility that it walked on its hind legs.  There were many reptiles that resembled a crocodile during this time period.  Although there were many early “crocodiles” there were also later reptiles like crocodiles.

There were also many crocodile like creatures that had evolved through later periods.  First, the Stromatosuchus was a monstrous dinosaur that was 36 feet long and weighed 10 tons, but what is interesting is it only ate krill and plankton.  Second, the Sarsuchus that also developed in this same time period was 40ft long and 10-15 tons, and ate fish and other dinosaurs.  Finally, the Dinosuchus that developed later in this period was about 33ft long and 5-10 tons; the skull alone was 6 feet.  There were many massive dinosaurs that resembled crocodiles during this time period.

The crocodiles from the later period still resemble earlier ones, but the shape and build has changed.  Many things have developed for crocodiles such as the ability to swim over time.  The early crocodiles had started out much smaller, and had many features of a crocodile.  As time went on, crocodiles had evolved and become much larger, and more “crocodile-like.”  Although the crocodile has changed, it is still one of the least evolved animals.

 

Are there any other animals that are still surviving from the prehistoric age?

How did crocodiles survive but others didn’t?

Are there any vegetarians that are still surviving from this time period?

6 thoughts on “Evolution Of Crocodiles

  1. It was very enthralling to learn about the evolution of crocodiles and the fact that they used to walk on their hind legs. although it would be better if it was stated HOW the build and jaw of a crocodile has changed. since I wanted to know more, I researched about the changes in the face of a crocodile over time and found that ancient crocodiles invaded the Jurassic seas and evolved jaws built primarily for hydrodynamic efficiency to capture agile prey, such as fish. However, only a small range of elongate lower jaw shapes were suitable in Jurassic marine environments.
    http://www.rvc.ac.uk/News/PressReleases/pr1309-jurassic-jaws.cfm

  2. It is cool to know that crocodiles are one of the least evolved animals. Although crocodiles have four legs they used to have two and walked on them like a human which is surprising. Its kind of weird that one of the first things a crocodile developed was a jaw. I think the reason crocodile survived the dinosaur period was that they had adapted to the environment better than other animals. Here is a site that I found that includes more about crocodiles and their habitat.

    http://www.aqua.org/explore/animals/australian-freshwater-crocodile?gclid=CMGN8IGag8UCFQ4yaQodCkoAqw

  3. This article is very interesting in how the ways the crocodiles has changed. It is cool to think that crocodiles have been around since the dinosaurs age and how they survived. I did a little extra research and found out a few things about the crocodile and how their jaws revolved. I learned that the crocodiles jaws were the first things that were developed and how many other things have developed in the crocodile after all of the years.
    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/08/0825_040825_crocodiles_fossils.html

  4. This is a very interesting article, I was interested in the fact that even though the crocodile has changed dramatically, its still one of the least evolved animals. Very good on explaining how they have evolved and why. Its cool to see that they all mainly evolved from dinosaurs. You can see the resemblance in past dinosaurs to this day. Its also interesting to hear that there was a monstrous crocodile dinosaur that was 36 feet long and weighed 10 tons but only ate plankton and small creatures. They have changed quite a bit, I agree. Good and well thought out questions at the end, something to think about. Good point naming the prehistoric crocodiles and its descendants and also describing them and how the next evolved
    from that. Good and interesting to read article. I think this website could offer some cool information and facts. http://www.preceden.com/timelines/44419–evolution-of-crocodiles-

  5. Now how do you know that they started out on their hind legs? where did you get this information? i agree that the crocidle have developed over the ages but i do agree with the idea of eveolution. There are many types of prehistoric creatures still left most of them are sea animals. The shark for instance, like the croc the shark survied because of its drive to live but also because it stayed under water while the meteorright crashed into the earth. This is a site i found online enjoy http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/typesofdinosaurs/a/crocodilians.htm

    1. my question is, if the croc has been around for millions of years, why has its legs not started to evolve into flippers, seeing that they spend what? 90% of their time in water.
      how could the jaw evolve first, how many years lapsed between the jaw and the next thing to evolve? if the jaw evolved first what the rest of the body look like and how did it survive until the rest evolved?

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