The Future of Crocodiles

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The Future of Crocodiles
Topic Started: Jan 27 2009, 04:51 PM (3,060 Views)
Titanomonstrus	Jan 27 2009, 04:51 PM Post #1
Legendary Beast Tyrant Posts: 411 Group: Members Member #131 Joined: Jan 26, 2009 Nationality: United States Favorite Quote: "You lose."- Calvin Coolidge	What is the evolutionary future of Crocodiles? I think it's unlikely that they'd die out. Maybe they'll become more aquatic like mosasaurs and plesoisaurs. The only question with that though is what they will do about egg laying? Mosasaurs and plesiosaurs solved this problem but how?
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Carlos	Jan 27 2009, 05:16 PM Post #2
Adveho in me Lucifero Posts: 11,702 Group: Members Member #5 Joined: May 31, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Portugayse Favorite Quote: Blame is the playing of children and is given to many like a gift that cannot be returned. Acceptance is the tool of the mature that is rarely loaned out.	Well, archosaurs as a whole don't seem to have ever evolved vivipary/ovivipary. Though I'm pretty sure crocodiles will produce several marine forms in the future, just as they did in the Mesozoic (as metriorhynchids and later as dryosaurids), and in the Cenezoic (first dryosaurids, then marine gharials that were common until the Pliocene)
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Titanomonstrus	Jan 27 2009, 08:02 PM Post #3
Legendary Beast Tyrant Posts: 411 Group: Members Member #131 Joined: Jan 26, 2009 Nationality: United States Favorite Quote: "You lose."- Calvin Coolidge	I've never heard of the dryosaurids and marine gharials. Perhaps crocs will become the dominate predators in the oceans. They might be able to withstand colder water than we may think if they become large enough.
	Check out the Postocene! To all conservative Republicans- America, love it or leave it.


Black_Panther	Jan 27 2009, 09:08 PM Post #4
Adolescent Posts: 472 Group: Members Member #56 Joined: Aug 17, 2008 Gender: Private Nationality: Mexico	Titanomonstrus Jan 27 2009, 08:02 PM I've never heard of the dryosaurids and marine gharials. Perhaps crocs will become the dominate predators in the oceans. They might be able to withstand colder water than we may think if they become large enough. That's kind of odd. First of all, to become the top predators of the oceans; they need to outcompete sharks (mostly anything bigger than a mako), seals (ever heard of the leopard seal?), whales and dolphins. Sharks and probably small dolphins and seals will be around in a few million years. To reach the niche of larger marine predators, crocodiles need to diversify or adapt faster than seals and other potential future predators of the ocean. In the matter of cold, i think that toothed whales or seals will keep on the niche.
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Carlos	Jan 28 2009, 02:30 AM Post #5
Adveho in me Lucifero Posts: 11,702 Group: Members Member #5 Joined: May 31, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Portugayse Favorite Quote: Blame is the playing of children and is given to many like a gift that cannot be returned. Acceptance is the tool of the mature that is rarely loaned out.	I think they will simply occupy the niches they occupied previously in the sea: as fast fish hunters
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Viergacht	Jan 28 2009, 01:13 PM Post #6
faceless fiend Posts: 411 Group: Members Member #126 Joined: Jan 20, 2009 Nationality: earthican Favorite Quote: More than ever, the creation of the ridiculous is almost impossible because of the competition it receives from reality.	If enough mammalian predators are wiped out, they might throw out some small land-living forms again.



Carlos	Jan 28 2009, 01:17 PM Post #7
Adveho in me Lucifero Posts: 11,702 Group: Members Member #5 Joined: May 31, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Portugayse Favorite Quote: Blame is the playing of children and is given to many like a gift that cannot be returned. Acceptance is the tool of the mature that is rarely loaned out.	Alligators appearently can eat vegetal matter as well; if there weren't iguanas and tortoises around, maybe there would be herbivorous crocodilians
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Titanomonstrus	Jan 28 2009, 04:43 PM Post #8
Legendary Beast Tyrant Posts: 411 Group: Members Member #131 Joined: Jan 26, 2009 Nationality: United States Favorite Quote: "You lose."- Calvin Coolidge	Yes crocs would have to out compete other aqauatic animals, but I'm not talking about them becoming dominate in a few million years, more likely they'd become dominate in 10-20 milion years. I think crocs could outcompete sharks as sharks have been outcompeted by land animals a lot of times (plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, whales). As for colder temperatures, well, cold-blooded animals that a large enough can control their body temperature through gigantothermy (This is how sharks and other large fish survive colder waters). So, aquatic crocs could inhabit temperate seas of the future, but of course, not polar.
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Black_Panther	Jan 28 2009, 06:02 PM Post #9
Adolescent Posts: 472 Group: Members Member #56 Joined: Aug 17, 2008 Gender: Private Nationality: Mexico	Yeah, but in that case; crocs will need to outcompete creatures like penguins, seals and otters; that, given the opportunity, could become larger predators of the ocean.
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Titanomonstrus	Jan 28 2009, 07:09 PM Post #10
Legendary Beast Tyrant Posts: 411 Group: Members Member #131 Joined: Jan 26, 2009 Nationality: United States Favorite Quote: "You lose."- Calvin Coolidge	I think crocs would have an advantage atleast in tropical waters. Though penguins would take over the Antarctic, Otters the Atlantic, and possible Auks in the Arctic.
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mnidjm	Jan 28 2009, 10:53 PM Post #11
King of Mars Posts: 270 Group: Members Member #12 Joined: Jun 8, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Irish American Favorite Quote: A Page that you like, Death is inevitable and i hope it comes quickly, has changed its name to Chair Memes	Most likely in the Indian Ocean.



Carlos	Jan 29 2009, 03:09 AM Post #12
Adveho in me Lucifero Posts: 11,702 Group: Members Member #5 Joined: May 31, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Portugayse Favorite Quote: Blame is the playing of children and is given to many like a gift that cannot be returned. Acceptance is the tool of the mature that is rarely loaned out.	Or rather, they inhabit the oceans side-by-side with them, as they did throw the Cenezoic Edited by Carlos, Jan 29 2009, 03:10 AM.
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Titanomonstrus	Jan 31 2009, 11:41 AM Post #13
Legendary Beast Tyrant Posts: 411 Group: Members Member #131 Joined: Jan 26, 2009 Nationality: United States Favorite Quote: "You lose."- Calvin Coolidge	You know, maybe giant descendents of sea snakes are more likely than new marine crocodiles. Sea snakes are already oviviviparous giving them an advantage. Do you think sea snakes would reevolve limbs for flippers if they got larger?
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Carlos	Jan 31 2009, 12:12 PM Post #14
Adveho in me Lucifero Posts: 11,702 Group: Members Member #5 Joined: May 31, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Portugayse Favorite Quote: Blame is the playing of children and is given to many like a gift that cannot be returned. Acceptance is the tool of the mature that is rarely loaned out.	Unlikely. Snakes lost limbs, and the lost of limbs is permanent. If anything, they could become like the following concept: http://piatnitskysaurus.deviantart.com/art/Squamozoic-5-53827622 Anyway, I think that in the future sea birds, marine mammals and reptiles would co-exist pretty well, as they've done before. Now, into the splitting of niches...
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Titanomonstrus	Jan 31 2009, 12:51 PM Post #15
Legendary Beast Tyrant Posts: 411 Group: Members Member #131 Joined: Jan 26, 2009 Nationality: United States Favorite Quote: "You lose."- Calvin Coolidge	Yes, in the distant future there could be finless, mosasaurlike sea snakes in the tropics and subtopics, seallike penguins otters and auks in many place, and some sea animal that filter feeds (could be any of the mentioned animals or something unmentioned).
	Check out the Postocene! To all conservative Republicans- America, love it or leave it.


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