Through 6 million years of evolution,
Evan expressed:
If you return to Florida 8 million years ago, you will have a chance to see the giant Tiger Tooth or Hai Ly. However, there is an animal that you will see that they look no different from modern times. Yes, that's crocodile.
'Even 30 million years ago, they didn't look much different now' - Evan Whiting - a medical student at Minnesto State University (USA), who has many studies published in journals American archaeological press, revealed.
Sharing with the press, Evan expressed: 'We were surprised to find the fossil of a crocodile dating from a long time ago, but it looks very much like the crocodile living at the present time.'
The "beauty" of crocodile does not seem to be influenced by time.
The short snout crocodile is a member of the crocodile set, a group of ancient creatures that existed here for over 84 million years. Whiting and his colleagues compared this fossil to a skull bone model that has a lifespan of 8 million years found in Marion, Florida. Initially, this skull bone specimen is thought to belong to an extinct species. However, these two fossils are very similar, and are similar to the crocodile's skull at the present time.
That means, unlike what we often think, the appearance of crocodiles has not changed at all after 6 million years of evolution.
This exciting discovery helps explain why American crocodiles still retain habitats in freshwater environments, while surrounding them are saltwater ecosystems. They said that if the current American crocodile and the ancient crocodile are one. Probably before, they shared the habitat with the sea crocodile Gavialosuchus Americanus (giant crocodile with skull bones longer than 1m and length up to 9.75m). To survive, they must evolve into freshwater animals to avoid having to become food for those giant monsters.
Simulation of giant crocodile Gavialosuchus Americanus.(Source: fossil-treasures-of-florida.com).
'Evan's studies show that crocodiles do not evolve when they are surrounded by no one. The crocodile we see today does not have to compete with anyone, but millions of years ago, they had to compete with much larger species' - David Steadman, curator of the Museum of History Of course, Florida.
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