Are alligators technically dinosaurs?

Are alligators technically dinosaurs?

As alligators do not have all of these traits, they cannot be considered dinosaurs. Alligators and dinosaurs are closely related, however. Reptiles fit into two groups, the archosaurs and the lepidosaurs.

Why are there crocodiles but no dinosaurs?

Theory #1: Crocodiles Were Exceptionally Well-Adapted Perhaps the stubby legs and low-slung posture of crocodiles allowed them to literally "keep their heads down" during the K/T upheaval, thrive in a wide variety of climatic conditions, and avoid the fate of their dinosaur pals.

What animal is closest to a dinosaur?

The closest living things to dinosaurs need to be taken a look at in terms of classification of species. Dinosaurs are classified as reptiles, a group that includes crocodiles, lizards, turtles, and snakes. Of this large group of animals, other than birds, crocodiles are the closest living things to dinosaurs.

What dinosaurs are still alive today?

Other than birds, however, there is no scientific evidence that any dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus, or Triceratops, are still alive. These, and all other non-avian dinosaurs became extinct at least 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Is a chicken a dinosaur?

So, are chickens dinosaurs? No – the birds are a distinct group of animals, but they did descend from the dinosaurs, and it's not too much of a twist of facts to call them modern dinosaurs. There are many similarities between the two types of animal, largely to do with bone structure.

Are sharks older than dinosaurs?

In fact, sharks and their relatives were the first vertebrate predators on Earth. Shark fossils date back more than 400 million years – that means sharks managed to outlive the dinosaurs, survive mass extinctions, and continue to serve an important role near the top of underwater food chains.

What killed the Megalodon?

Bottom line: A new study suggests that particles from a supernova raining onto Earth 2.

Who was the last dinosaur to die?

Triceratops Triceratops Was Last Dinosaur Standing The Triceratops, described in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters, dates to 65 million years ago, the critical period of time associated with the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction event that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs and many other animals and plants.

Did dinosaurs live on Pangea?

Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents. At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart.

Are there any alligators that are related to dinosaurs?

Yes, ancient species of alligators (and multiple species of crocodiles) lived at the same time as dinosaurs. Several species of the order Crocodilia that include Crocodiles and Alligators of the modern-day evolved during the Mesozoic era.

When did Alligators first appear on the Earth?

Did you know that alligators first appeared on earth 37 million years ago? That doesn’t just make them old; it makes them living dinosaurs! And today, nearly 1.

How are crocodiles related to the archosaur dinosaur?

Though dinosaurs and crocodiles have the common ancestor with the archosaur, they evolved separately. Today, habitat destruction threatens the livelihood of some crocodile species. Though they could weather an asteroid blast that altered the physical world, humans might be edging them out.

How many vertebrae does an alligator have in its hips?

There are at least three vertebrae in the hips. There is a ridge on the femur for a certain muscle attachment that is peculiar to dinosaurs. As alligators do not have all of these traits, they cannot be con...