Crocodiles, allegators, and other similar animals are amazing creatures. They are found throughout much of the world and seem to be powerful predators that can survive almost anything. In fact, their family of animals, the Crocodylomorpha seem to be able to survive anything the world throws at it.

Of course, this applies to modern issues like climate change and humans expanding into their environments, but it goes much further than that. These creatures survived the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. It also survived a number of other mass extinction events that took place over the course of millions of years. No matter what they face, these amazing animals seem to not only survive, but thrive.

A study was recently published in the journal Paleontology that looked at how and why these scary animals seem to be able to live through events that have taken out just about every other type of animal. The author of the study, Professor Randall Irmis of the University of Utah talked with IFLScience about these creatures, saying:

“We like to think of crocodiles, alligators and their kin as ‘living fossils’, but there has been quite a lot of evolutionary change since they first evolved during the Late Triassic Period over 230 million years ago. The first crocodylomorphs were small predators that walked upright on land. Although the classic ecological role of semi-aquatic ambush predators evolved during the Early Jurassic some 190 million years ago, throughout the Age of Dinosaurs and into the early part of the Age of Mammals, there has been a bewildering array of different ecological roles for crocodylomorphs, from terrestrial herbivores and terrestrial hypercarnivores to ocean-going predators! So, it’s only very recently in their evolutionary history that crocodylomorphs have been constrained to the roles we see them occupy today.”

Needless to say, crocodiles and its family have actually changed quite a bit over the years, though not as much as some other families of animals.  More recently, crocodiles have been fairly stable evolutionarily, but their ability to adapt and change really allowed them to survive some of the most deadly events in history.

“The evolutionary flexibility of crocodylomorphs over time has been a big part of their success in surviving mass extinction events in Earth’s past. If we can give them a chance by preserving their habitats and avoiding overhunting, crocodylians are likely to stick around for a long time to come.”

Hopefully humans will continue to make sure that these ancient animals have plenty of room to live and adapt out in nature. If we know one thing from their past, when they are left to deal with changes on the planet, they can overcome almost anything.

Who knew that crocodylians were so adaptable.

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