Daily Dino Fact: Be happy you’re still around, crocodile
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Smile!
Q: Are there any dinosaurs or animals from the age of the dinosaurs not extinct? -DIALGAPALKIA
A: Yes! In fact, the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous was not even the worst the Earth had seen at that point. Dinosaurs came to prominence after the Permian extinction event (the period before the Triassic) which killed 90-95% of all life on earth!! In comparison, the extinction event the dinosaurs suffered killed about 85% of all life on earth.
It’s hard for a creature to stave off the forces of evolution over millions of years but some, like the “whip scorpion” in the Nigel Marven webosode, managed to stay relatively unchanged over that time. The ancient fish coelacanth was thought to have been extinct at the end of the Cretaceous until one was found in South Africa in 1938.
Crocodiles were also widespread during the Mesozoic and it is safe to say that they fed off dinosaurs. The Mesozoic crocodiles were very similar in size and appearance to modern crocodiles although the biggest one, Sarcosuchus, could grow up to 39ft (12m) long.
-Rex
