
Alligator in Myakka River State Park, Florida/© Michele Hogan
From ScienceDaily:
Previous research has pointed to crocodiles and alligators starting with a land-based ancestor some 200 million years ago and then moving to fresh water, becoming the semi-aquatic ambush predators they are today.
But a new analysis, published online today in the journal Scientific Reports, offers a different story. Modern crocodiles and alligators came from a variety of surroundings beginning in the early Jurassic Period, and various species occupied a host of ecosystems over time, including land, estuarine, freshwater
and marine.As University of Iowa researcher and study co-author Christopher Brochu says, “Crocodiles are not living fossils. Transitions between land, sea, and freshwater were more frequent than we thought, and the transitions were not always land-to-freshwater or freshwater-to-marine.” Paper. (open access) – Eric W. Wilberg, Alan H. Turner, Christopher A. Brochu. Evolutionary structure and timing of major habitat shifts in Crocodylomorpha. Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-36795-1
More.
Actually, Dr. Brochu is mistaken. Crocodiles are still “living fossils” because they are largely unchanged over many environments. We think the term “durable species” is a better descriptor for all such species because it evokes the same characteristic—they are largely unchanged over a very long period—but the term is not itself an apparent contradiction in terms.
Essentially, crocodilians are highly adaptable.
See also: Convergent Evolution Of Crocodile And Dolphin Skull Shapes
Crocodile’s eyes fine-tuned for lurking
Someone noticed the alligator’s second jaw joint
and
Stasis: Life goes on but evolution does not happen
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Nice, Per the RCCF framework for the strongest science we find 25M to 200M +/- aligns with the 1656 anno mundi ‘Mabul’ mass extinction impacts year event, that was the catalyst for the onset of The ice ages that lasted 1656 to 1996 anno mundi, (3783 to 4123 YA not 10k to 25M YA) so aligns w/ scriptural narrative and YeC timeline.
reference: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B077Q4KB9V
Another croc for Young Earth Creationists?
Dean from Ohio/ Pearlman- Serious question- How “young” is the young in YEC?
for 99 cents I can give the script a read- RCCF? I paid more for “Starlight and Time”…
And why doesn’t the BBC headline read – “alligators taking back what the white, over-privileged, stole from them”
Thanks Dean- I never saw the Bible- OT- as a clear and concise genealogy. So I don’t adhere to Bishop Ussher’s timeline.
Yes, “and it was evening and it was morning”- without a Sun: Judaism and the age of the earth
Then there are the civilizations of the Indus valley and Sumer- both existed 6,000 years ago. The aboriginals of Australia have an oral history going back tens of thousands of years.
God is true, but men wrote the Bible and men have translated and interpreted it, most often to suit their own needs, wants and desires