Crocodiles are ancient creatures that have outlived most species.<\/p>\n
We know that crocs have evolved from an ancient cousin that led to several animal species over the last few million years. But a recent discovery made in Brazil rewrites the history of how these \u201cliving fossils\u201d evolved over time, with a few surprising facts to boot.<\/p>\n
What has this discovery meant for science and the world as a whole?<\/p>\n
How animal life has evolved over millions of years is truly astonishing<\/p>\n
The remarkable animal life that populates the planet has evolved over a long-drawn-out process over millions of years.<\/p>\n
We know that what we consider to be whales evolved from four-legged land mammals that were roughly the size of a wolf. Their nostrils slowly moved to the top of their heads to create the blowholes that have become emblematic of whales today.<\/p>\n
Convergent evolution has also been found to have taken place across time in several species.<\/p>\n
We know that humans and octopuses developed eyes through convergent evolution, and now these \u201ccamera-style\u201d eyes can be found in several species, from insects to us humans.<\/p>\n
Living fossils have broken the rule book of evolution<\/p>\n
Science has taught us that several species have remained relatively the same for millions of years.<\/p>\n
But as these ancient species are subjected to dramatic changes in their habitats, they are forced into regions of the world where we struggle to even get a glimpse of them. Such as a team of researchers finding an ancient cephalopod that hid from the world for decades.<\/a><\/p>\n Recent rediscoveries of \u201cliving fossils\u201d have emerged from all over the world, proving that life expanded into every nook and cranny of the planet.<\/p>\n Animals have an innate ability to reshape their natural habitats to allow the planet time to heal itself, mostly from human-led devastation. Recent behavior of elephants in the oldest national park in Africa<\/a> has seen them repopulating the region.<\/p>\n As several species make a comeback worthy of a Rocky movie, others are finding it more challenging.<\/p>\n It must be noted that remarkable conservation efforts have been made to address the challenge of saving certain species from extinction. However, a recent discovery of a \u201cwarrior crocodile\u201d in Brazil has shifted the scientific community\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n The study, \u201cA fierce crocodile ancestor that hunted before dinosaurs has been found,\u201d published by Taylor & Francis Group in ScienceDaily<\/a>, has provided details.<\/p>\n A long-lost \u201cwarrior crocodile\u201d has been found in Brazil<\/p>\n Crocodiles evolved from two distinct ancient species, namely the Pseudosuchia and Avemetatarsalia lineages.<\/p>\n While we view these ancient creatures as living fossils, they are actually variations of either one of these two species. The \u201csplit\u201d took place roughly 200 million years ago during the Triassic period, when dinosaurs were the dominant species in the world.<\/p>\n However, a newly identified predatory pseudosuchian species of crocs has been found in the Amazon in Brazil.<\/p>\n