The article was published at The Conversation.
Mike Lee is a professor at the University.
The asteroid killed the dinosaurs, how did the crocodiles survive?
I'm amonn! Many scientists have asked this question.
There are two main reasons. crocodiles can live for a long time without food. They lived in places that were not as affected by the asteroid.
Why is sci-fi obsessed with asteroid impact disasters?
The asteroid hit Earth.
Dinosaurs ruled Earth about 66 million years ago. A massive asteroid slammed into the shallow sea near Mexico.
The explosion from this was so large that it caused earthquakes, tidal waves, and even poisonous rain.
The asteroid hit at a place where the rocks could be "exploded" or "vape" This threw up a lot of dust in the sky, blocking out the sun for a long time, and sending Earth into a long, dark and freezing winter.
The green plants died, followed by the plant-eating animals that ate them to survive, and the meat-eaters that ate the plant-eaters.
The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs had an effect on plants and trees.
Most dinosaurs were wiped out, according to scientists.
Some managed to survive because of a variety of reasons.
A group of dinosaurs sailed through thanks to their ability to fly and find food. Their feathers protected them from the cold, and their beaks let them eat seeds buried near dead plants.
These dinosaur survivors are still with us. We call them birds.
Small birds evolved from giant meat eating dinosaurs.
The crocodiles had some survival skills.
The crocodiles were one of the groups that survived the asteroid. They can't fly, don't have feathers, and don't eat seeds. They had other secrets to success.
crocodile bodies use very little energy. They have a very slow heartbeat and lie around a lot. They can hold their breath underwater for more than an hour.
It also means they can go without food for a long time. When food became hard to find after an asteroid hit, this would have been helpful.
Dinosaurs needed more energy because they were generally more active. Without food, they would have died quickly.
The crocodiles were one of the groups that survived the asteroid. They can't fly, don't have feathers, and don't eat seeds. They had other secrets to success.ie, including the fact that all the animals that need them die.
The crocodile survivors lived in rivers, lakes and coasts. The animals in these places don't need a lot of green plants. Dead plants and animal material washes in from the surrounding land, which is eaten by small creatures and then eaten by larger creatures.
crocodiles in a river wouldn't have starved as soon as the green plants died.
Our ancestors were also mammals.
The reason why human beings' ancestors survived the asteroid impact is similar. The small mammals that lived at the end of the age of dinosaurs gave rise to all the different kinds of mammals today.
They were small, rat-like things that scurried about in the dead leaf litter, eating insects and worms. These tiny creatures relied on dead leaves and bark falling from the trees or being washed in from elsewhere.
Our ancestors were just like the crocodiles, they didn't depend on living plants. Lucky survival skills are the reason we are here today.
The Conversation's article is a Creative Commons licensed one. The original article can be found here.
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