Were there crocodiles or alligators in the age of dinosaurs?
One of the most awe-inspiring non-dinosaurs from the Mesozoic was an alligatoroid called Deinosuchus. It was perhaps as long as 40 feet in length (though most scientists today estimate a more modest 30-35 feet), and could have crushed prey with jaws stronger than those of Tyrannosaurus rex. It looked very modern, with a body quite similar to those of present-day alligators, and a similarly-structured head, though with a rather bulbous nose. It was just, well, huge.Take a look (art by Raul Martin):Let that sink in. Wow.Now, this was not truly an alligator. Nor were pretty much any of the pseudosuchians (the “croc-line archosaurs”, distinguished from the “bird-line archosaurs” that include dinosaurs and pterodactyls) that lived in the Mesozoic. They were not crocodiles, either. So the answer is, “not really, but kind of.”But rest assured, there were crocodile-like animals that, while not true members of the clade, were close to it.Some other highlights:Sarcosuchus, sometimes called “super-croc”, which grew even longer than Deinosuchus (photo origin unknown):Kaprosuchus, sometimes called the boar-croc. Up to 20 feet in length, and apparently pretty capable on land (image from Wikipedia, scale bar is 10 cm):Dakosaurus, nicknamed “Godzilla”, was an oceanic species that reached 15 feet, and gave birth to live young (image from National Geographic, but stolen from Pinterest).Postosuchus lived entirely on land, and ate primitive dinosaurs. It got to 15 feet in length. Pseudosuchians also included herbivorous species, like Desmatosuchus. Here we have a lovely piece by Julius Csotonyi of the two duking it out. You can see the original in the natural history museum in Houston, Texas.Anyway, I would like to conclude my remarks by saying that I think crocodiles are cool.
There are 4 times as many alligators as crocodiles. If the total number of alligators and crocodiles is 40.?
Put them in groups of 5 (4 alligators 1 croc) 40/5 = 8 groups 32 alligators, 8 crocs Of if you must .... A = 4 * C A C = 40 and solve
Are alligators or Crocodiles bigger?
Well, there's 23 species of crocodilian worldwide... -in general- crocodiles attain larger sizes, and yes, nile crocs and saltwater crocs can reach about 20 feet long, while male gators will usually top out actually at less than 12 feet, some "dwarf" species of crocodile rarely, if ever hit that 12 foot mark. Here's info on all of them. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csl.html
How did alligators and crocodiles survive the asteroid impact that killed off all of the other reptiles and the dinosaurs?
Ok so Crocodilians are tough guys - lets assume we have a well fed croc thats been doing well - crocs can go dormant for over a year in hard times - they can eat just about anything thats organic - they have the strongest stomach acid of any animal.So lets think about those factors - go back to our well fed croc - it's far enough away from the asteroid impact zone that it does not get instantly blown away - times become tough - so it finds a suitable place and goes dormant. Feeding off its fat - as we know this can last for over a year - so fast forward one year - the croc wakes up and goes looking for food - there are carcasses around from the animals that did not make it - crocodile dinner - it would then find another suitable spot and go dormant again - so there's two year accounted for - crocs are also fairly long lived - so we have plenty of time for it to carry on as above - encounter another member of its species breed and away we go - crocs survive - between then and now we have 65 million years of evolution to take into account too - gators along with muggers gariel and cayman are all off shoots of the basic crocodilian format only have evolved to fit their ecological niches.
How exactly are Alligators and Crocodiles more related to birds than reptiles?
Crocodiles and alligators are the only surviving archosaurian reptiles. Extinct archosaurian reptiles include dinosaurs and pterosaurs. The other living reptiles are either lepidosaurs (snakes, lizards and tuatara) or anapsid reptiles (turtles). The ancestor of birds is also an archosaurian reptile. Therefore crocodiles and alligators are the closest living relatives of birds. Currently there is no agreement on which group of archosaurian reptiles is most closely related to birds. There are several theories: 1. crocodilomorph origin of birds, which states that the ancestor of birds is most closely related to reptiles that later gave rise to crocodilians. 2. dinosaurian origin of bird, which states that the ancestor of birds is a theropod dinosaur that closely resembles Deinonychus, which is a Cretaceous theropod dinosaur 3. thecodontian or basal archosaurian origin of birds, which states that the ancestor of birds is a more primitive archosaur than a dinosaur, and that dinosaurs evolved after the ancestor of the dinosaur has become a separate lineage from the birds. Proponents of this theory points to Longisquama insignis, a late Triassic archosaur from Central Asia, as the most likely ancestor of birds, since it has feathers. Personally, I believe theory #3 is the most likely, and the dinosaurian origin of birds is just all wet.
Were there crocodiles in the Nile River during the Time of Moses?
Yes. The infant Moses was very lucky not to end up a snack when he was sent down the Nile in a basket.
What does crocodile taste like?
I'd call it closer in both taste and texture to lobster tail than to rubbery chicken. Pretty good - if you like that sort of thing (I do). It's not exactly an aquired taste, but some people don't like the texture, some people don't like any food with the slightest hint of fishy taste. Most people used to a Western diet would probably find it easily edible, if not remarkable. As Donna said, I wouldn't pay through the nose for it, but I'd eat a platefull if it didn't have 5 times the cholesterol of white meat chicken. (After having your femoral arteries reamed a couple of times, you check things like that.)
If a komodo fought an alligator, which animal would win?
Suppose the prime example of each:Komodo Dragon can grow up to about 3m Long and weigh about 70kgAlligator can grow up to 5m Long and weigh in excess of 450kg…Problem for the Komodo is he is a lot smaller… Because physiologically there is not a massive difference between them, both reptiles, both have claws, sharp pointy teeth (granted the Komodo has poison in it’s mouth and the Alligator doesn’t) however when you consider that alligators hunt other reptiles and lizards and Komodo’s mostly eat deer…Alligators are more used to attacking and killing other lizards, it’s much bigger and more powerful and even if instead you were to find similar sized animals to make the fight more even you are simply giving the Komodo the chance that it really doesn’t deserve and push comes to shove a similar size and weight alligator would still probably win as it’s bite can crush the dragons bones whilst the dragons teeth may not be able to puncture the alligators tough hide.Ohhh and as a final indignity to the dragon, even if it’s teeth DO manage to break the skin, the alligator has an immune system second to none… It routinely gets bitten in swamp water full of bacteria, viruses and other infectious microbes and it not only doesn’t die but actually heals itself… Scientist have found alligators capable of resisting E. coli and strains of bacteria that cause dysentery, salmonella, and strep and staph infections. Alligator blood also killed the herpes simplex virus and a strain of HIV.