Scientists may have solved a 66-million-year-old mystery: how crocodiles survived the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. A sweeping analysis of fossils and ancient climates suggests that their preference for warm environments placed them in tropical refuges that remained habitable even after the catastrophic impact. The asteroid killed the dinosaurs. Why did crocodiles survive.
Science News from research organizations The asteroid killed the dinosaurs. New research suggests that their preference for warm environments may have given them a crucial advantage during one of Earth’s greatest mass extinctions. Scientists led by UCL (University College London) found that crocodiles and their ancient relatives spent much of their 250 million years of evolutionary history following warm climates rather than adapting to dramatically different temperatures.
When Earth grew hotter, they expanded into new regions, sometimes reaching as far as Antarctica. As temperatures fell, they moved back toward the tropics. Published in Science Advances, the study analyzed more than 7,000 fossils and records from over 400 living and extinct species.
Researchers combined this evidence with computer models that reconstructed Earth’s climate and geography across 245 million years.
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