what are crocodiles descended from

Did crocodiles descend from dinosaurs?

While dinosaurs and crocodiles are both members of the Archosauria Clade, crocodiles did not descend from them. They share a common ancestor sometime in the mid-Triassic (somewhere between 200–237 million years ago), along with the pterosaurs whose common ancestor with the dinosaurs is somewhat more recent.

What animal eats crocodiles?

In no particular order, the top spider predators include:

• Lizards. Geckos and chameleons are common lizards of the southern U.S. that feed on spiders as well as other small insects. …
• Birds. …
• Tarantula hawks. …
• Spider wasps. …
• Monkeys. …
• Centipedes. …
• Scorpions. …
• Other spiders.

What was the largest crocodile ever recorded?

• The glamorous 5'4" woman took down the huge beast to save her daughter
• Krys Pawlowski, along with her husband, started a career as crocodile hunters
• She became a celebrity known for red lipstick, great aim, and taxidermy skills
• According to legend, the petite mum-of-three only missed three shots in her life

What is the largest prehistoric crocodile?

“SuperCroc is the nickname for perhaps the largest crocodile that ever evolved, and it evolved about halfway through the Dinosaur Era, about 110 million years ago,” says Mr. Sereno. The crocodile, like living crocodiles, would have lived in large rivers.

What did the crocodile evolve from?

Along with pterosaurs and dinosaurs, crocodiles were an offshoot of the archosaurs, the "ruling lizards" of the early-to-middle Triassic period of the Mesozoic Era. This epoch in history began about 251 million years ago and ended 65 million years ago.

What did crocodiles descend from?

Crocodiles, dinosaurs and winged pterosaurs all descended from the archosaur.

Are crocodiles from dinosaurs?

Crocodiles are not dinosaurs, but both crocodiles and dinosaurs came from the crown group Archosaurs. Archosaurs were reptiles that included birds, crocodiles, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs. Modern-day birds are descendants of feathered dinosaurs, evolving over the last 65 million years.

What is the closest ancestor to crocodiles?

Crocodiles are the closest living relatives of the birds, sharing a common ancestor that lived around 240 million years ago and also gave rise to the dinosaurs.

What dinosaurs evolved into crocodiles?

About 250 million years ago, the archosaurs split into two groups: a bird-like group that evolved into dinosaurs, birds, and pterosaurs, and a crocodile-like group that includes the alligators and crocs alive today and a diversity of now-extinct relatives.

Why are Crocs not dinosaurs?

No, crocodiles are not dinosaurs. Crocodiles are reptiles. Even though they almost certainly have a common ancestor with dinosaurs, but they are a separate branch of the reptile family tree.

What is the closest living relative to dinosaurs?

It is correct to say that birds are the closest living relatives to all EXTINCT dinosaurs. The closest living relatives of ALL dinosaurs are the crocodilians (crocodiles, alligators, gharials).

Can alligators mate with crocodiles?

Question: Can alligators and crocodiles mate? Answer: No, they can't. Although they look similar, they are genetically too far apart. Although related, they split into separate genera a long time ago.

Who are the ancestors of alligators?

The first alligator ancestors evolved some 245 million years ago. About 80 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, crocodilians appeared. This group includes alligatoroids, such as Brachychampsa, as well as their close relatives the crocodiles and caimans.

How much DNA do we share with crocodiles?

about 93 percentUnderstanding the crocodilian genome can help scientists better understand birds. The DNA in alligators, crocodiles and gharials is about 93 percent identical across the genome. By comparison, a human shares about 93 percent of his or her DNA with a macaque.

Are ducks and crocodiles related?

Modern species share a common ancestor, but are neither descended from each other nor from some crude composite chimera, and ducks are not descended from crocodiles.

Are alligators descendants of crocodiles?

Alligators Are Crocodilians Alligators belong to a group of reptiles known as crocodilians. This group is also home to all crocodiles, caimans and gharials. All crocodilians are carnivorous, semi-aquatic animals with long bodies and tails, relatively short legs, and long, teeth-filled snouts.

Are dinosaurs closer to birds or reptiles?

Even though dinosaurs were reptiles, many palaeontologists believe that they're closer to birds than they are to reptiles.

Did crocodiles live with dinosaurs?

Crocodiles and dinosaurs lived in the same period millions of years ago. However, unlike dinosaurs, they survived and still exist today all around...

What were prehistoric crocodiles called?

Prehistoric crocodiles were called archosaurs. These ruling reptiles originated over 250 million years ago, long before dinosaurs, birds and modern...

How are birds more closely related to dinosaurs than crocodiles?

Birds are more closely related to dinosaurs than crocodiles because they share a common meat-eating ancestor called theropods. The divergence happe...

Etymology

The word crocodile comes from the Ancient Greek krokódilos ( κροκόδιλος) meaning 'lizard', used in the phrase ho krokódilos tou potamoú, "the lizard of the ( Nile) river". There are several variant Greek forms of the word attested, including the later form krokódeilos ( κροκόδειλος) found cited in many English reference works.

Species

A total of 17 extant species have been recognized. Further genetic study is needed for the confirmation of proposed species under the genus Osteolaemus, which is currently monotypic .

Characteristics

Crocodiles are similar to alligators and caimans; for their common characteristics and differences among them, see Crocodilia.

Biology and behaviour

Crocodilians are more closely related to birds and dinosaurs than to most animals classified as reptiles, the three families being included in the group Archosauria ('ruling reptiles'). Despite their prehistoric look, crocodiles are among the more biologically complex reptiles.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Crocodylidae is cladistically defined as a crown group composed of the last common ancestor of the Nile crocodile ( Crocodylus niloticus ), the Dwarf crocodile ( Osteolaemus tetraspis ), and all of its descendants. It contains two subfamilies: Crocodylinae and Osteolaeminae. Crocodylinae contains 13-14 living species, as well as 6 extinct species.

Relationship with humans

The larger species of crocodiles are very dangerous to humans, mainly because of their ability to strike before the person can react. The saltwater crocodile and Nile crocodile are the most dangerous, killing hundreds of people each year in parts of Southeast Asia and Africa. The mugger crocodile and American crocodile are also dangerous to humans.

Further reading

Iskandar, DT (2000). Turtles and Crocodiles of Insular Southeast Asia and New Guinea. ITB, Bandung.

Meet the Crocodiles of the Mesozoic Era

Bob Strauss is a science writer and the author of several books, including "The Big Book of What, How and Why" and "A Field Guide to the Dinosaurs of North America."

Deinosuchus

Deinosuchus was one of the biggest prehistoric crocodiles that ever lived, growing to a whopping length of 33 feet from head to tail--but it was still dwarfed by the biggest crocodile ancestor of them all, the truly enormous Sarcosuchus.

Gracilisuchus

Name: Gracilisuchus (Greek for "graceful crocodile"); pronounced GRASS-ill-ih-SOO-kuss

Metriorhynchus

Name: Metriorhynchus (Greek for "moderate snout"); pronounced MEH-tree-oh-RINK-us

Protosuchus

Name: Protosuchus (Greek for "first crocodile"); pronounced PRO-toe-SOO-kuss

Additional Resources

Ghose, Tia. " Mesozoic Era: Age of the Dinosaurs ." LiveScience.com. 7 Jan. 2017.

Paleontology

Like all reptiles, crocodiles are diapsids—i.e., they have two openings on each side of the skull. Crocodiles also show the most important characteristics of the group that includes the dinosaurs (subclass Archosauria ).

Distinguishing taxonomic features

The families and genera of the order Crocodylia are differentiated primarily by the anatomical peculiarities of their skulls.

Annotated classification

Extinct groups represented only by fossils are indicated by a dagger (†).

Critical appraisal

Widely different views prevail concerning the classification of the living groups of Eusuchia—the alligators and caimans, the true crocodiles, and the gavials. The three groups have been treated here as distinct families within suborder Eusuchia.

Let's Take a Look at the Ways They Do and Don't

The skeleton of the Deinosuchus. Daderot/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

First Crocodiles of the Triassic Period

Before the first true crocodiles emerged on the prehistoric scene, there were the phytosaurs (plant lizards): archosaurs that looked very much like crocodiles, except that their nostrils were positioned on the tops of their heads rather than the tips of their snouts.

Crocodiles of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras

By the start of the Jurassic period (about 200 million years ago), crocodiles had mostly abandoned their terrestrial lifestyles, probably as a response to the terrestrial dominance achieved by dinosaurs.

Are Crocodiles Dinosaurs?

No, crocodiles are not dinosaurs. Crocodiles are reptiles. Even though they almost certainly have a common ancestor with dinosaurs, but they are a separate branch of the reptile family tree.

What are Crocodiles?

Crocodiles are reptiles. They’re large, cold- blooded predators that have adapted to live mainly in the water, only coming on land to bask in the sun, lay their eggs, and digest their food. They’re one of the most successful groups of animals to ever evolve, and today they’re the largest reptiles in the world.

Were there prehistoric Crocodiles

Crocodiles weren’t always the aquatic creatures we see today. While crocodiles like modern crocs have existed since the time of the dinosaurs, crocodilians were once a much more diverse group.

Are there any living dinosaurs today?

Crocodiles may not be dinosaurs, but some of their closest living relatives are: birds. It’s commonly believed that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but this isn’t really accurate. Birds did not evolve from dinosaurs, birds are dinosaurs.

Did Crocodiles eat dinosaurs?

Some ancient crocodiles were certainly large enough to eat dinosaurs. Deinosuchus and Sarcosuchus were gigantic crocodiles living during the cretaceous period that would’ve been capable of killing and eating many of the dinosaurs they shared their habitat with.

How big do Crocodiles get?

The largest living crocodiles are the Saltwater Crocodile, also called the Estuarine crocodile, is the largest living crocodile, and has the strongest bite force of any living animal. These huge predators can reach close to 20 feet in length and weigh 2,200 pounds.

Conclusion

Crocodiles are not dinosaurs, but they are closely related, and they share a common ancestor. Crocodiles have their own fascinating fossil history, and we’ll never truly know just how diverse in size and lifestyle the prehistoric crocodiles truly were.

1. Crocodiles

This is what you came for: big, scary reptiles, right? Well, crocodiles share a heritage with dinosaurs as part of a group known as archosaurs (“ruling reptiles”), who date back to the Early Triassic period (250 million years ago). The earliest crocodilian, meanwhile, evolved around 95 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period.

2. Cassowaries

Judging by its giant, claw-like feet alone, it’s easy to see why people think this giant bird is directly descended from dinosaurs such as velociraptors. They are the third largest bird species in the world and have been known to attack humans.

3. Tuatara

Here is a similarly remarkable beast, and the sole survivor of a genetic lineage that originated in the early Triassic. Tuataras are members of the reptile group Rhynchocephalia, which blossomed into full diversity between 240 million and 60 million years ago.

4. Sharks

In a way, it’s an insult to sharks to consider them modern day dinosaurs because they’re much older. Their ancestors evolved into recognisably shark-like shapes over 450 million years ago, during the Silurian period. They have survived every major extinction event since the seas were filled with Trilobites.

5. Lizards

While they share a reptilian ancestry that goes back millions of years – and have many common genetic traits, such as the laying of eggs – lizards and dinosaurs went on to follow separate paths of development. This is most evident when you consider their legs.

6. Crabs

They’re not dinosaur descendants, they’re not lizards and they did not evolve into birds, but crabs deserve a special mention in this list for developing the kind of personal armoury that, pound for pound, would make an Ankylosaurus think twice.

7. Ostriches

Ostriches, cassowaries, kiwis and emus belong to a group of large flightless birds called ratites.

1. Chickens

Who are you calling chicken? Birds descended from a group of two-legged dinosaurs known as theropods, the members of which include the powerful predator Tyrannosaurus rex and the smaller Velociraptors.

2. Crocodiles

Chomp on this fun fact: many animals that you see today share some impressive connections with dinosaurs, including crocodiles – and you can really see the similarities in their rubbery skin, their fierce teeth, and their claws!

3. Sea Turtles

Recent studies have shown that turtles belong in the group Archelosauria, along with relatives like birds, crocodiles, and – you guessed it – dinosaurs.

4. Ostriches

Ostriches are whacky-looking creatures at the best of times, but did you know that they’re very closely related to a species of dinosaur dating back to the late Cretaceous period? And, when you think about it, this makes sense – because ostriches do have something of a dinosaur look about them.

5. Snakes

When we think of dinosaurs, we imagine huge beasts roaming the Earth, but not every creature was so disproportionately large. Indeed, ground level was a hive of activity, with one of the most prevalent animals being one we’re very familiar with today: the snake.

6. Sharks

Sharks may not look like your typical dinosaur, but these iconic creatures of the deep have been around longer than almost any other animal on the planet – over 450 million years to be exact. That means, the sharks we know and love today are descended from creatures that were around millions of years before dinosaurs were even a concept.

7. Crustaceans

Crustaceans, such as crabs and lobsters, have shown some real staying power over the centuries, with several species known to have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Indeed, many species of lobster predate dinosaurs by hundreds of millions of years, and they’re one of the earliest known species of filter-feeders on record.

Overview

Characteristics

Etymology

Biology and behaviour

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Relationship with humans

See also

Further reading