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posted by cmn32480 on Monday September 19 2016, @10:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the see-ya-later dept.

The American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ) species may be up to 6 million years older than previously thought, and has undergone very little evolutionary change in the last 8 million years, according to University of Florida researchers:

While many of today's top predators are more recent products of evolution, the modern American alligator is a reptile quite literally from another time. New University of Florida research shows these prehistoric-looking creatures have remained virtually untouched by major evolutionary change for at least 8 million years, and may be up to 6 million years older than previously thought. Besides some sharks and a handful of others, very few living vertebrate species have such a long duration in the fossil record with so little change.

"If we could step back in time 8 million years, you'd basically see the same animal crawling around then as you would see today in the Southeast. Even 30 million years ago, they didn't look much different," said Evan Whiting, a former UF undergraduate and the lead author of two studies published during summer 2016 in the Journal of Herpetology and Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology that document the alligator's evolution – or lack thereof. "We were surprised to find fossil alligators from this deep in time that actually belong to the living species, rather than an extinct one."

Whiting, now a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota, describes the alligator as a survivor, withstanding sea-level fluctuations and extreme changes in climate that would have caused some less-adaptive animals to rapidly change or go extinct. Whiting also discovered that early American alligators likely shared the Florida coastline with a 25-foot now-extinct giant crocodile.

In modern times, however, he said alligators face a threat that could hinder the scaly reptiles' ability to thrive like nothing in their past — humans.

Paleoecology of Miocene crocodylians in Florida: Insights from stable isotope analysis (DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.03.009) (DX)


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  • (Score: 2) by Bogsnoticus on Tuesday September 20 2016, @07:10AM

    by Bogsnoticus (3982) on Tuesday September 20 2016, @07:10AM (#404144)

    Haven't had 'gator, but have eaten croc, and have to agree with you in regards to taste and texture. Admittedly, have't eaten rattlesnake either, but have eaten King Brown, red-belly black snake, and taipan.
    Cooked properly, croc is just as tender and properly cooked calamari, and has a subtle flavour similar to toothfish. Add the right herbs, and it's the best white meat out there.

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