How Crocodiles could be survived to live with Dinosaurs?

The past of crocodiles has been revealed. A research conducted by a team of scientists from the UK showing how the reptiles evolved and survived when the world was dominated by dinosaurs.

Unlike most modern crocodiles that live in freshwater habitats and prey on fish and mammals, their ancestors lived very diverse. Some species of ancient crocodiles running around on the ground like a dog, and other species adapt to life in the open sea, resembling the eating behavior of killer whales today.

A sample of the morphological 
diversity seen in Mesozoic crocodiles,
with the lower jaws highlighted in 
anatomical position. From top 
to bottom, the animals are Goniopholis 
(Jurassic to Cretaceous), Simosuchus 
(Cretaceous), Dakosaurus (Jurassic to 
Cretaceous), Cricosaurus (Jurassic to 
Cretaceous) and Mariliasuchus 
(Cretaceous). The silhouettes are 
not to scale. (Picture from:
http://www.livescience.com/)

The research report that published on September 11, 2013 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal shows for the first time that an ancient crocodile jaws evolved so that helps them to survive in a very different environment, side by side with the dinosaurs at 235 million to 65 million years ago.

Tom Stubbs, who led the research at the University of Bristol, England, declared that the crocodile ancestors have an amazing history, but not much studied compared with the dinosaurs.

"They are very different than the crocodiles that we know today. Much more diverse," he said. "As shown in this research, their ability to adapt was very great. Anatomical variation and their evolution during the Mesozoic Era was very special. They develop lifestyles and foraging ecology are very different than we see today."

By examining variation in the crocodile's lower jaw morphology and function to over 100 ancient crocodiles, the team found that after the mass extinction event at the end of the Triassic, the crocodile began to invade the ancient Jurassic sea and develop a jaw that is designed to have a hydrodynamic efficiency to capture agile prey such as fish.

Variation was increased back to the Cretaceous period. Ancient crocodile began to develop various forms of the lower jaw when they adapt to a variety of foraging ecology and terrestrial environments with dinosaurs. However mandibular biomechanical variations in those days was not much. The fossil record actually shows a new adaptation of a thick protective layer, such as the armadillo skin.

"In Our research shows, that crocodiles ability to exploit various sources of food and habitat by developing various forms of the jaw is very important to recover from extinction at the end of the Triassic and also has an important role in the crocodile's live success story under the dinosaur's dominated shadows," said Stephanie Pierce from the Royal Veterinary College. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | SCIENCEDAILY | TJANDRA DEWI | KORAN TEMPO 4342]

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