How come dinosaurs were all wiped out, but creatures like sharks, crocodiles and tortoises still survive? What’s so special about them? Surely there were smaller dinosaurs in the sea than sharks – yet they didn’t survive?
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Because the crocodiles weren’t crocodiles then. A little shrew-like thing survived, and then evolved into all these other animals. Apparently there is space for different roles within an eco system, and the same types of patterns have evolved many times. For example the lemurs in madagascar have many species similar to the monkeys found elsewhere, but these have evolved independentkly and aren’t actually closely related at all. So the shrew evolved into crocodiles and horses and things later on, after the dinosaurs had died.
I bet you’re glad you asked
I’m pretty sure they were all around with the dinosaurs.
Have a look at the Wiki entry:
“They are an ancient lineage, and are believed to have changed little since the time of the dinosaurs. They are believed to be 200 million years old whereas dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago; crocodiles survived great extinction events.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodile