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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)
(Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Monday September 19 2016, @10:54PM
the 3-4 times i've had it, it was chewy...
maybe just badly prepared at seafood restaurants where it was a novelty, i don't know...
(Score: 2) by Kymation on Monday September 19 2016, @11:26PM
Plus the flavor was not anything wonderful.
If they were really tasty, they'd be a lot less likely to be driven extinct by humans. We're pretty good at keeping things around that we like to eat.
(Score: 3, Funny) by KilroySmith on Monday September 19 2016, @11:27PM
What do you expect out of 8 million year old meat?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @11:28PM
Funny, that's exactly what alligators say about humans!
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday September 20 2016, @03:07AM
Should have been less chewy than calamari, IIRC. It's really close to rattlesnake in both texture and taste.
Don't listen to Kymation. The taste was even better than rattlesnake and calamari combined. Properly seasoned it's pretty damn good. I always order it any time I'm in the South :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Bogsnoticus on Tuesday September 20 2016, @07:10AM
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.
Genius by birth. Evil by choice.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday September 19 2016, @11:33PM
After 8 million years of terrible stagnation, someone will finally have the courage to modify their interface.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday September 20 2016, @12:29AM
There are other reptiles that have not changed much in a very long time, my favourite is the Tuatara [wikipedia.org] which hasn't changed much in 200 million years.
The extinct giant crocodile mentioned in the article sounds a lot like the saltie [wikipedia.org] , which as any Aussie will tell you are frickin' huge.
I'm sure I saw one in the Perth Zoo that was 10 metres long, but according to Wikipedia they don't get much bigger than 7 metres, so I might be exaggerating it in my mind.
I guess if you're the apex predator they is less evolutionary pressure to adapt, as long as your food source is constant, and the saltie will eat anything it can catch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @01:21AM
Dey's some old birds [thewonderofbirds.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:01AM
Evolution pushing back into the same place in morphology space is not the same thing as lack of evolution. Look up "strange attractors" for insight.