Why did Crocodiles Survive and Dinosaurs Die?

[@Darkkefka]

No over exaggerated intro, No annoying music in the background, no beating around the bush, just straight to the point And very entertaining and interesting information. You sir have earned my sub.

[@davidwilson4954]

Most definitely.

[@MarcusDET]

A ton of jump cuts though

[@nicklimerick6979]

mine too

[@bennygerow]

Ok fine, I will too.

[@linyenchin6773]

He's an idiot posing as "knowledgeable" but he us just overreacting in overuse of redundant terminology that inflates his message.

[@blondbraid7986]

Gators are pretty hardy animals, Saturn the alligator even survived the bombing of the Berlin zoo in WW2 and somehow managed to survive for years in a European warzone before British soldiers found and recaptured him, and he lived on to the ripe old age of 84 despite all he'd been through.

[@matthewwriter9539]

That's because he is really a Predicon.

[@srobeck77]

He just ate dead bodies around him, thats not really hard to do by gator standards....

[@jacoathananadilla8269]

Amazing right!? It's fantastic how they can survive that bombing

[@russellmarra8520]

interesting story, but Saturn is a terrible name for an alligator.

[@jacoathananadilla8269]

@@russellmarra8520 wdym?? Not a good name for a alligator?! Saturn is a cool name you know!

[@wilkolb7239]

Crocs had plenty of aquatic animals to eat even when land based animals became scarce, also those that did survive had to drink water, so the crocs food source came to them, they didn't have to go out hunting, they sit back and wait. Ambush strategy works and not wasting calories roaming around hunting, also the crocs are cannibalistic.

[@gobucs3146]

Where’s the aquatic dinosaurs?

[@Raumes513]

@@gobucs3146 I’m by all means no expert but I’d assume this might have effected the oceans in a similar way. Don’t things like plankton and alege (I can’t spell sorry xD) require some sun too? If so I assume it happened pretty much the same. And I think a lot of aquatic dinosaurs were specialized in what they did. But also I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of long lost relatives to aquatic dinosaurs somewhere in our vast oceans

[@bleddynwolf8463]

@@gobucs3146 not really. if you mean large marine reptiles yes, but they probably went extinct due to oceanic ecosystems collapsing to the point anything bigger than a barracuda or middle sized shark going extinct

[@LawAcieIV]

I think more aquatic life actually went extinct, but yea animals still need to come to water and drink. and being ambush predators their hunting style for the most part wouldnt have to change to much.

[@Raumes513]

@@LawAcieIV you’re probably right! I’m by no means an expert haha I’m just a stoner who enjoys learning things and thinking(probably too deeply) about stuff haha

[@Sarcosuchas]

As a crocodile specialist, this is a question I get asked all the time. Very nicely explained and kept simple and easy to understand. Also, that is a nice gator skull :P

[@tannerolafson3619]

Don’t some crocodilians dig burrows and hibernate?

[@Sarcosuchas]

@@tannerolafson3619 Strictly speaking it's not hibernation, but yes, they've been known to dig burrows where the temperature is constant.

[@Ispeakthetruthify]

@@Sarcosuchas When it's reptiles, it's called brumation. But yes...they can basically shut/slow their bodies down. This ability gave reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals a huge advantage during the extinction event.

[@king_halcyon]

@@Ispeakthetruthify what is the case of birds (avians)?

[@Ispeakthetruthify]

@@king_halcyon Well avian dinosaurs(birds), have the greatest advantage(besides the human brain) EVER developed in the Animal Kingdom. And this of course is flight. Birds could have flown to the few isolated spots of sanctuary around the planet. And the seabirds already living on small islands, and rocky ocean outcrops, would already have an advantage for long term survival. Birds don't need much space to survive, just a place to nest and rest. And in these pockets of sanctuary, and places less affected, they could eke out a living until the worst of the extinction event was over. Once things began to turn around, they easily repopulated the virtually empty continents. And once the did, they diversified and flourished due to lack of competition. Which is why the time from when the dinosaurs went extinct, to around 10 million years afterwards, is called the 'Age of Birds'. Birds dominated skies and the land. It wasn't until medium to large sized mammalian herbivores and carnivores evolved, that they began to lose their grip.

[@ReeveProductions]

I think it’s worth noting how small mammals tend to breed fast, some even having multiple sets of offspring in the corse of a year. Also small mammals tend to mature to breeding age quickly. I think a strong argument could be made that warm blooded mammals survive because they could evolve adaptations quickly. Planet is getting colder? Joe survived more winters than bob who had less fur, joe has more offspring, joe’s kids tend to have thicker fur. Larger creatures tend to have fewer offspring and invest more resources into each of them, making it harder to evolve quickly.

[@tima5033]

Great comment! Kinda makes me think of how infinities can be bigger or smaller than other infinities.

[@yockib5419]

solid comment

[@johnsamu]

It's also somewhat true for humans nowadays. In the developed world people have fewer children but invest a lot in education, infrastructure(schools, hospitals etc) for these few children. In developing countries it's the opposite, many children with little investment(because it's not available) in education/infrastructure. If a meteorite would strike today those children in developing countries would have a better chance of survival based on sheer numbers AND because they are used to bad infrastructure.

[@oatnoid]

I know Joe. Even his daughters are hairy. Unibrows, sideburns, and moustaches are prevalent.

[@TheKamikazenaz]

Spot on. It's a complex game that survival, and I think breeding should have been mentioned. It is interesting how we still often focus on physical characteristics (although the tons of info we now manage to extract from bones is wizardry) and neglect behavioural theories to supplement.

[@michaelclark5626]

Most of the animals that survived the extinction event at 66 Ma, lived or spent a lot of time in water. This included crocs, and turtles. They also laid eggs, but did not really need parents to survive.

[@luisvalentin361]

Their metabolism very slow and the fact that they could go months without eating. Not to mention that they could had easily hide underwater or underground

[@Sensekhmet]

I imagine the same mechanisms were behind the survival of turtles and tortoises: animals that were (are?) viewed as "slow", "stupid" and "primitive", yet are still going after 200 million years.

[@niclas8777]

Not the swamp one is had as pet for a period wasn't really slow tho

[@indrickboreale7381]

High-developed brain structure creates a lot of energy consumption

[@fwogboi]

turtles survived for 200 million years yet cant survive the *Human Inquisition*

[@kickerse13]

@@fwogboi Humans are the harshest creatures on the globe. We kill for fun...

[@Infinite8blue]

When being stupid is a survival trait

[@josephjoestar995]

Love how passionate this guy comes across about speaking on this topic

[@jimkirkland5838]

Brown detrital food chains in fresh and brackish water, where K-Pg extinction relatively minor.

[@trigsbeans1215]

Best explanation for the actual end of the dinosaurs I’ve heard. Me and my friends debated this because of the meteorite destroying the world sounding far fetched and reached the same conclusion as you’re putting forward here. I’m happy because many beers were consumed that night and some logic and sense were found still

[@devforfun5618]

cartoons really did a disservice in that matter, the love to depict the meteor coming, then cut away leaving the assumption that the impact itself killed the dinosaurs, the show dinosaurs was more realistic with a long could winter and starvation, even if it wasn't caused by a meteor

[@dboconnor57]

I’m that kid in the 60’s that had all the cool but ultimately incorrect plastic dinosaurs. Oh well, they tried. But I’ve been having fun keeping up with new discoveries and theories about life before us. This question, however, has been rolling through my mind like a noisy marble. I just didn’t put 2 and 2 together, coz getting old. So I stopped and watched your vid. I liked it, enjoyed it, and learned quite a bit. I subscribed and I’m looking forward to a lot more informative and fun content. Well done and thank you so much!

[@johncartwright4041]

I admire how you can just talk without looking at notes. Obviously your knowledge of this subject is very deep! I always enjoy your videos no matter what the subject. Many respects from Brisbane Australia. 🇦🇺

[@TGIFrank]

Great video. If anyone is having trouble picturing how large a 50 foot crocodilian would be, consider the the 23 inch long skull on the desk. He said the body length was 11 feet, so if the ratio is similar these giants would have had heads that were over 9 feet long. Imagine going out to your garage in the morning and being swallowed whole by the enormous alligator lying on your driveway.

[@blingiy]

The ratio is 8.7 ft for the skull, assuming that the head to body ratio was equal.

[@jeremyelrey1529]

Oo nga. Súper rapsa Ng lamu kila te Nemeth, dang laki kamo Ng cheesecake eh. Baka pang diin nila si twinkle

[@tawnymarinoble3802]

Think of the crocodile that ate Captain Hook in the movie hook

[@TGIFrank]

@@tawnymarinoble3802 That was actually a solid ELI5 assist and you get bonus points because I was probably only a couple years older when that movie came out. RUFIOOOOOOO

[@kenneth9874]

There was a man taken from his yard in Slidell La. after the hurricane last year

[@serjthereturn]

aren't gators essentially able to go into hibernation in cold temperatures, shutting down and semi-freezing? I thought they might have slept through the worst...

[@Kyle-sr6jm]

Que pic of aligator sleeping with nose above ice covered pond.

[@saeedhunter398]

Lmfao 🤣 imagine hibernating through the extinction level event and waking up after like “wtf happened while I was sleep?”

[@Davums]

Pretty sure it's frogs that do this

[@Tybren]

@@Davums Gators for sure do it. They actually brumate though, not hibernate.

[@TravellerTinker]

@@Tybren yes but didnt the worst after the asteroid last like a couple million years

[@Robylazarus]

Brilliant analysis, very enjoyable as well. Learnt a great deal from this short clip. Thank you very much for sharing this.

[@FiddlerOnTheRoof2024]

Thank you for the information! I like how you tell a story. Thanks for not sounding like a newscaster.

[@sku32956]

That was interesting, Croc’s immune system is unbelievable like a shark. I could see a Croc able to eat ever so often and eat rotten meat and make it past the global climate melt down.

[@salmonjoseph9970]

truly chad animals

[@12gauge_shawtyy]

not if we don’t extinct them for their fine first

[@kenneth9874]

@@12gauge_shawtyy there's a glut of hides on the market, they commercially raise them all over

[@The_Butler_Did_It]

It could just as easily have been phrased "Why did avian dinosaurs survive and none aquatic crocodiles die?"

[@daneoman1000]

Did he talk much about birds…no he didn’t.

[@sanny8716]

Exactly what I thought

[@andryuu_2000]

Not all avians survived, otherwhise we would have nore than 2 kinds, and something closer to dinos even more than ratites

[@The_Butler_Did_It]

@@andryuu_2000 that's true but on the other hand, not all aquatic crocodilians survived either.

[@briansmith2207]

This guy explained everything better and clearer than anyone I've heard before

[@adriancabiles3898]

As I found out, crocodiles can hide under mud or anything hidden and just control their metabolism. They can do fasting to survive either.

[@nathankeel4308]

They can freeze underwater with their snouts pointing out too. Look it up

[@warpeace8891]

Thank you for your efforts to allow people to learn high quality information for free.

[@Courier_Jackalope]

I misread this completely as "Why did crocodiles deserve to die?" since I'm still waking up and I couldn't believe how harsh that was!

[@CanalTremocos]

They know what they did...

[@nilebaker3729]

I've thought of this before. All the large animals which survived have things in common. Turtles, sharks and crocodiles. Cold blooded, slow metabolism, long lifespans, and extremely hardy immune systems.

[@FRLN500]

Rhinos, hippos, and elephants which are descended from prehistoric animals are not cold blooded. In his posited theory he uses words such as "probably", "likely", and then proceeds to pretend that he is speaking the truth. He is making a guess as to "why".

[@colatf2]

@@FRLN500 the discussion is not about mammals. Mammals and the predecessors to mammals were completely different to today’s mammalian megafauna. Crocodiles survived largely without changing their anatomy

[@nilebaker3729]

@@FRLN500 That's why I said large animals. The mammals of that time were all small, including the ones which evolved into the animals you mentioned.

[@trevorhart545]

EXCEPT Mammals, Q. Ignorance? You need a new Education based on FACTS , any chance you had a USA Failed Education? PLUS most Thunder Lizards WERE Cold Blooded, slight problem in Brain power.

[@nilebaker3729]

@@trevorhart545 Your ignorance shines bright as the sun, dim one. There were no large mammals then. The up to date information is that dinosaurs were possibly warm blooded and covered with feathers. So I'm afraid it's whatever crappy excuse for an education you've received which has failed you miserably. A true seeker of truth and knowledge continues their own education throughout life. There is much knowledge to be gained and you are woefully behind.

[@jeffharmed1616]

Thanks for a well illustrated video. You mentioned plant food shortages but didn’t go into great detail. For example water plants probably had a better chance of survival land-based plants. These would have been food for certain types of fish that would have been food for crocodiles. The dust that blotted out the sun might not have been as severe in the infrared spectrum and consequently some plants varieties with efficiencies in that wavelength would have survived. Also consider that animals living on hydrothermal vents would have been unaffected by the consequences of the meteor strike and these animals might have become part of a chain of dependence with crocodiles at the top of the chain. Finally localised climate variances might have been sufficient to support plant life such as nutrient-rich hot springs. Animals like flamingos would have survived on a diet of microorganisms.

[@autumnhomer9786]

🎀Thank you for this video, I had this question recently as yesterday I attended a dinosaur museum. And so many animals went extinct, but not them. Thank you again.🎀

[@bluemoondiadochi]

I'd add a few details to your video: 1. about being warm-blooded... i think dinosaurs were a mixed bag, some (like lighter dinosaurs) being properly warm-blooded, while others being partially warm blooded, or warm blooded with environmental help. lets not forget, the world was in general warmer so why not use the heat of environment? that aside, large herbivores could potentially benefit from hear released by gut bacteria. 2. mammals survived not (only) due to being smaller, but also due to being sort-of warm blooded AND due to being able to hibernate. Crocodilians also can hibernate and this was undoubtedly useful in an event like this. mammals however just like primitive mammals today had lower metabolic rates due to lower body temperature and this was a large contributor to their survival i think. Basically those that are less and had slower metabolisms won the apocalypse lottery back in the day (tho i still dunno what the f to do with birds here).

[@brianticas7671]

Thanks for the info bud. When i was in 2nd grade i loved learning about dinosaurs. Saw jurassic park series 2. Sad what happen to dinosaurs but it was for the better of humanity.

[@zachdew9gaming985]

The way i see it if the dinosaurs still existed humanity would not of came about. So being a human I'm thankful for their sacrifice for intelligent life.

[@jhonmacraimbanajokora8657]

It's actually pretty smart. Stay in water near the banks cause every animal needs to drink XD

[@PaleoAnalysis]

Yep, that's why this strategy has been the go to crocodilian strategy for 220+ million years.

[@informer3evans797]

@@PaleoAnalysis Unless you are a plesiosaur or Mosasaur. They lived by the warm blooded wales and cold blooded sharks, but still died out because of the meteor and ash cloud.

[@dandywaysofliving]

My biggest fears tbh. I blocked it out for a couple years but youtube reminded me. That yes. Snakes are in the desert. Yes there are wild cats 🐈 Yes a bear is a bear But worst of all Crocodiles. . Add ankle/shin deep water and tall grass. Yea I'm not risking it. . Where my dad is from. There are crocodiles in a river about 2 suburban streets away. . There are areas of knee deep water and tall grass that go on for miles. . I'm scared to even go in the ocean at this point because of how Humanity treats the environment. I might still go in but me avoiding the beach for the last 5 years might say otherwise xD. . I actually like going out in nature but I'm usually by myself so I try to be extra careful since I'm the only one watching out for me. . But oceans swamps and Marshs are my not ever in a lifetime list. That and the really slim kayaks/river boats that are about 3 inches away from flooding. . Maybe it's just hollywood/TV. But I wouldn't underestimate a gator jumping into those tiny ass boats just to see if they can shake/sink anything off. . Seems they don't do thT but I'm not risking it. . I'm already 80% more likely to be struck by lightning because I keep subconsciously heading towards higher elevation when it rains where I live. I actively avoid putting myself in these scenarios because I'm sometimes inclined to yolo it

[@recipoldinasty]

@@informer3evans797 whales didnt exist at the time buddy

[@markusnavergard2387]

crocodiles, mocks space and metorites " oh what you gonna do? you didnt kills us the first time and you aint gonna kill us now!"

[@petitio_principii]

If we can go broad enough with the terms, I think there were even some "crocodiles" that were for a while misclassified as dinosaurs, some Struthiomimus-like Postosuchus relative, if I recall.

[@santoshr2984]

Wow .. what an amazing channel .. why did youtube not recommend this to me...

[@holgere.]

There remains one question: With ash clouds blocking the sun for years or even decades, how would a cold blooded animal survive a much cooler environment? Decades without sun must have led to freezing temperatures!

[@marvinmartion1178]

EXACTLY!!!!

[@Daz2710]

@@marvinmartion1178 This is just my two cents but I wouldn't say the ash cloud completely wiped out the sun light, also here in South Africa our Nile crocs have been know to dig caverns around the water and hibernate or even live there when it gets too cold to heat themselves up. Also on occasion you would find crocs in these dug out caves stock piled on one another, kind of when we cuddle for heat. Lets be honest, if you think about the resiliency of animals or creatures, just look at the croc, cockroach and rats - diseases cant even kill them so they carry them, that's how hardcore these creatures are built.

[@BlackRoyalty_]

@@Daz2710 I call bullshit. Nobody knows and it's a possibility that there was an event that we don't even know about

[@Daz2710]

@@BlackRoyalty_ That's why it's called theories, opinions, or speculation.

[@BlackRoyalty_]

@@Daz2710 I think people should lead with, "We don't know wtf happened but here's an educated guess..."

[@mattm7798]

What's interesting is not the absence of giant dinosaurs, but the small ones. Many dinosaurs were quite small and yet still died out while much larger reptiles remained.

[@adityarendragraha6783]

Thanks for the info, i am on my research about dino and other Ancient animal

[@ThePurpleKrow]

Check out his vlog channel, Nerd Analysis, he has some more paleontology videos there that might help you with your research :)

[@Dpradenas5622]

Steve, You did an excellent job Young Man !!!! I just want to congratulate You on a wonderful and very informative video on The Crocs and Dinosaurs ….. I love it, and You are a Champ. I would love to hear more of what You have to say about life !!!👨🏼‍🌾☝️✅

[@caiolucas8257]

I've always assumed the aquatic environment helped them survive, that's why the terrestrial ones went extinct. I also agree with the point of @lasnight that the low metabolism helped them thrive, not needing to eat every now and then is a very valuable skill.

[@PaleoAnalysis]

The fact that they are aquatic may have helped but not as much as many people think. I say that because there were also many different animal groups that died out at the same time as the dinosaurs that we're completely aquatic. Ammonites, Mosasaurs, Plesiosaurs, ect.

[@addish5022]

A more difficult question is how did bees survive given the mass death of plant life?

[@stinkypete4634]

Jesus saved them

[@Steevee14]

@@stinkypete4634 But Jesus didn't come onto the scene until about 66 million years after the meteor struck the Earth, so how did the bees survive for those millions of years before Jesus got here?

[@abrarhossain2682]

@@Steevee14 time travel what else?

[@Steevee14]

@@abrarhossain2682 Of course, why didn't I think of that, Abrar Hossain? (Maybe because I don't engage in ridiculous magical thinking.)

[@stinkypete4634]

@@Steevee14 Satan then!!

[@Zero-hopper]

Imagine Crocodiles sitting on a rock with a slight smile while watching the other animals are dieing lol

[@JogieGlenMait16]

Subscribed! Very direct new info straight to my brain. Thanks, brother.

[@KennethWhiteakaruckusbringa]

This is very interesting it would be cool to see how South the ice age pushed and if that greatly effected the larger crocodiles from surviving aswell

[@jackwolfe2058]

I just found your channel. I am excited to see you grow, and learn with you as well.

[@Ahturos]

Always intresting to study how life looked after the hit and then the years following it. It is easy for the general public as you said think of it as NUKED boom almost everything gone now. No I am curious how long some species survived after the hit, and the place that got hit there was the nuke what died during that hit? And then what species started the race of survival, when did it slowely get better, when was the reset of the eco system. What part of the world was mostly unfaced and where was it the worse? I should really try to find books of this.

[@nickmoran8801]

Ur a pretty big part of history right now with what ur doing

[@This_RuthIsOnFire]

This is such an incredible explanation. Thank you so much. It has made me think so much… just wow!

[@MichaelRose87]

Perfectly explained, very interesting. I subscribed 💯

[@AMPYMCSTAMPY]

When we look at these things and see how little they have changed when compared with mammals even after tens of millions of years of evolution, it really puts into question how adapted we are to the niches we have to fill even now. It feels like Crocs and birds are just superior in surviving massive disasters.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

That's a pretty solid explanation!

[@7errafirma]

4:39 he said it as if he's scared there might be a trex behind him. The pause, the hesitation, the "or something... that's how scary a trex is. 😂

[@Corpsman01]

Good vid, very interesting. I’ll come back for more!

[@jonpatchmodular]

Darn, 93.000 subs... for a second there I thought I'd be supporting a tiny channel.

[@timsexton]

Great explanation. I never considered cold blooded vs. warm blooded and relative caloric requirements of each.

[@tybivins1098]

I'm really happy I found this at 5am i wasn't expecting to learn about crocs but I'm glad I did also cool mammoth figures behind your left shoulder no clue why those stuck out to me

[@realityhelix564]

Crocodiles really do just keep trucking along. I wonder what forms they'll take in the future?

[@DavidWillisSLS]

I’d love if you could do a video on why sea turtles survived to the present day when no other marine reptiles made it out of the Mesozoic!

[@BeautifulGoon21]

Never had this question but immediately interested

[@NocturnalPyro]

6:23 maybe not the fireball, but the explosion did carry on the entire planet, the shockwave would've have gone around the planet multiple times many times the speed of sound, not to mention the earthquakes measuring on like 12-13 on the richter scale, and then the Tsunami's aswell. Also the massive amount of debris falling to the earth afterwards increased the temperature of the atmosphere to be the same as an oven meaning basically everything on the surface would've died within an hour, only things that survived was things in burrows or underwater.

[@perer005]

It is hard to overstate how much of a performance boost animals get with being warm blooded assuming they have enough food.

[@keyserzoom9154]

The strangest behaviour I learned of recently was a crocodile with its snout sticking out through a layer of ice on a pond. They truly are survivors.

[@markusnavergard2387]

and then after the extinction event, crocodiles started to diversify again. if things hade turned out a bit diffrent it be giant terror birds and crocodiles that would fills the space of mega fauna and not mammals

[@22ryanoc]

Great content. Keep it coming.

[@j.b.4340]

In Louisiana, the fauna/flora which survived from the dino-age all breathe air, and live in swamps. Alligators, garfish, bowfin, cypress trees…off the top of my head.

[@SuicidalSummerSnowWoman]

looking at that skull i can now understand why they are called crocs love your video... subscribed😃

[@Neuri]

Great stuff. Imagine how many dead dinosaurs there were for the crocs to eat..

[@MartinMMeiss-mj6li]

Interesting premise, but if cold-bloodedness gave the crocodilians an advantages of the warm-blooded dinosaurs, we must think of some other factor that give the warm-blooded birds a survival edge. Saying that the warm-blooded mammals survived because their small size meant their "calorie requirement is much lower" is a bit suspect also since small mammals need much MORE food relative to their mass than larger mammals.

[@andreasplosky8516]

Dinosaurs survived too. We see them every day: Birds. Edit: Oh, you specifically refer to non-avian dinosaurs. Okay. Wow, that aligator skull is magnificent. I want one.

[@mikecinema7443]

My 2 theories are: 1. The crocs were wearing level 16 dragon scale armor or... 2. Crocs got to a save point before the meteors hit.

[@paulgregory2601]

Umbilevable video, thanks 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@yugioh2470]

❤ thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@teamd007]

Wow. So many goofy comments. I’m sure he would admit that his theory is just that: a theory. I’m a retired biologist with a BS in Zoology (way back when I was young LOL). No no no, I am NOT an expert and NOT smarter than average. But I did spent a lot of time and effort learning about animals and how they evolved. So, I think this presentation was very helpful and even enjoyable. Many thanks…

[@wg8561]

My initial guess would be that their food comes to them, as all animals need water. Dinosaur's however had to go hunt for scarce resources during trying times. Ok now I'll watch the video.

[@johntrains1317]

Very kewl. Here's a comment for the algorithm

[@ianmetcalfe7389]

I'm not an expert but I don't think the meteor was as big as Denver. I think it was about 6 mile wide and Denver must be double that.

[@TheSurrealist.]

He’s got the skull of a Floridian Swamp Cat.

[@arnolddavies6734]

Having the advantage of being aquatic animals would have been a big plus for the crocodiles and the ability to burrow deep into the earth to escape the chaos at or near the surface. The unfortunate dinosaurs had no choice but to suffer the consequences of the meteorite.

[@letsfollowchrist7947]

Crocodiles, alligators, coelacanth, etc survived because they are strong swimmers. In an extinction type of event, the world flooding, the ability to swim would give a great advantage to survival. The coelacanth fossils are exactly the same as modern day coelacanth fish. Pretty cool to see not much has changed over the years.

[@Dr.Ian-Plect]

1. There was no grand flood during the K-T event 2. Coelacanth fossils are not exactly the same as modern coelacanths

[@letsfollowchrist7947]

@@Dr.Ian-Plect We found that the genes overall are evolving significantly slower than in every other fish and land vertebrate that we looked at,” said Jessica Alföldi, a research scientist at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT" "We often talk about how species have changed over time,” said Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, scientific director of the Broad Institute’s vertebrate genome biology group and senior author. “But there are still a few places on earth where organisms don’t have to change, and this is one of them. Coelacanths are likely very specialized to such a specific, non-changing, extreme environment - it is ideally suited to the deep sea just the way it is.” So, what differences do you observe between coelacanth fossils and living coelacanth? As for a global flood, there is lots of evidence. Fossils of sea creatures high above sea level due to the ocean waters having flooded over the continents Rapid burial of plants and animals. Rapidly deposited sediment layers spread across vast areas. Sediments transported long distances Rapid or no erosion between the strata Many strata laid down in Rapid succession I literally found a closed clam shell fossil in the middle of my farm last week. The evidence of a global flood is everywhere.

[@Dr.Ian-Plect]

@@letsfollowchrist7947 I'm a zoologist, I know what I'm talking about; - those quotes are regarding relative stasis in the taxon, not in support of your remark of 'fossils being exactly the same as living specimens'. THINK about what you state - extinct coelacanth species show distinct differences from extant; there are significant differences in body shape .g. skull morphology, vertebral arch count also ------------------ Your flood ramble was pathetically and hilariously ended with; "I literally found a closed clam shell fossil in the middle of my farm last week. The evidence of a global flood is everywhere." - oh, I must remember that closed clam shell ONLY means big flood ----------------------------------------------------------- You're clueless.

[@logdog8920]

Hi, On a smaller scale, Way back when,---- there was also a Meteor crash site right here in western Wisconsin, in our neighbor hood, the evidence is still there, but somewhat disguised by past glacier action. The outline of the crater is about 4 miles in diameter. I wonder if this contributed to any extinctions? Hey, thats some good insight into the survivability of "Crocks".

[@Shreef_Aamir]

The hard to destroy reptile doesn't resemble a crocodile for nothing 🐊

[@thejuiceman1190]

Man, Crocs are savages, what a beautiful creature

[@drsprof6295]

cold-blooded vs warm-blooded? Big vs small? SO, 4 options. 1. warm-blooded + big = not good. DIE 2. warm-blooded + small = ok. LIVE 3. cold-blooded + big = no good. DIE 4. cold-blooded + small = ok. LIVE Conclusion: the big ones died. BUT, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN MANY SMALL DINOSAURS? Why only the birds and not others survived?

[@remyromero2613]

Can you do a video on what skin impressions the permian period animals may have had ??

[@finnadunk]

Have you done a video on whales and what they evolved from? that is some crazy stuff.

[@DocReasonable]

You omitted their ability to burrow as a major factor in their survival. The extant Nile crocodile can burrow to depths of 12 metres, and there's no doubt the surviving Mesozoic crocs had similar capabilities. This would have saved them from all the horrors on/near the surface, such as raining hot glass, noxious gases, extended winter etc. The fact they only need to eat once a year sealed the deal.

[@autumnhomer9786]

🎀Once a year?🎀

[@paulamiles9559]

Thank you for your comments. I wish I could burrow and est only once a year.

[@This_gonna_be_good_I_know_it]

@@autumnhomer9786 Crocs can survive for over a year without eating actually, yes. Up to two to three years.

[@jd0192]

@@DaI-rx3xg you might be on the wrong channel if you want the Bible taken seriously boss

[@drpainglove3389]

@@DaI-rx3xg Internet missionary work is beyond useless. Consider volunteering your time in better ways.

[@DieLuftwaffel]

Hard to imagine the sheer number of massive carcasses that would have filled the world at that time, choking rivers, floating in the ocean, just death everywhere. Granted, as you said carnivores would have been around a while to clean up the mess but with that much death all at once it would have been amazing in a smelly gross way.

[@kornanthony23]

That’s assuming they were killing for the purpose of killing. Most animals today and I would imagine in the past as well, they only killed as needed and ate as needed so I don’t think it would be that bad. It’s the human race that invented the kill just in case we need food mentality

[@DieLuftwaffel]

@@kornanthony23 I'm not talking about killing alone as the reason for death. Watch the video, he says there would be mass starvation of herbivores. They are the ones that would have littered the ground first. As for animals needlessly killing, obviously you've never owned an outdoor cat.

[@nataliajimenez1870]

@@DieLuftwaffel The extinction of large Ice Age fauna at the end of the last ice age ~10000 yrs ago shows something similar at a smaller scale. Large herbivores were the first ones to go when there was drastic change to the climate. In the Americas, deer and buffalo survived but Mastodons and giant sloths perished. Large predators that depended on the large herbivores like the saber-toothed cats also went extinct

[@DieLuftwaffel]

@@nataliajimenez1870 Yes, though to my knowledge that extinction was much less rapid and involved much fewer species. The entire extinction probably took millennia due to shrinking habitats.

[@wadewalton4017]

@@kornanthony23 you have never actually studied a thing about nature....nature today as in the past kills and rapes for lots of reasons 🙄🙄🙄

[@robinsonray6766]

Here in Florida humans have pushed bears, panthers, armadillos and many other mammals to the brick of extinction in our territories, yet gators are prospering as are turtles, rats and of course several birds. Resilient animals that adapt to change

[@jasonreed7522]

All i know is that in East Asia (forget which river) there is a river where crocs thrive with a single food source: raw sewage, so i bet Florida even with humans is basically paradise to them.

[@robinsonray6766]

@@jasonreed7522 swamp animals did better overall. I guess living in still putrid decaying water has its benefits.

[@mariomouse8265]

Eh…American Alligators almost went extinct in the 1970’s. The US made it a priority to save them; so I wouldn’t attribute their recovery in Florida and Louisiana to the animals themselves.

[@jonescity]

Don't forget the Homo FloraMan species of primates here!

[@devinmartin3324]

I have noticed here in South East La. armadillos are pretty rare to see any more.

[@robertzantay5923]

Crocodiles and their relatives are also known not only to bury their eggs, which offers a much greater chance for survival, but they will often burrow into the banks of rivers, lakes and streams for protection against predation and intense weather conditions. They share these traits with some other notable survivors, like turtles, snakes, and lizards.

[@frankhoffman3566]

I have a theory. Some crocodiles hibernate underground in a shell of hardened mud during droughts. Many small mammals live in burrows in the dirt. Snakes and lizards often live in underground nests. Some birds nest in holes in cliff faces. That seems like it is the commonn theme of the animals that survived the asteroid strike and asteroid winter that followed.. All terrestrial animals alive today evolved, I think, from species that had some kind of underground refuge.

[@ole_limberlegs]

Sounds like a Suspicious Observation 🤔

[@fffgff9714]

That explains cavemen

[@frankhoffman3566]

@@fffgff9714 ... Actually it does explain human survival from the eruption of the Toba supervolcano 70,000 or so years ago.

[@Mockturtlesoup1]

Yes, that did play a large part in it(or at least it is hypothesized to have played a large part.) It's of course not the whole picture/cause, but small animals, particularly those that lived underground, or in logs/trees, in nests, etc., would have had a huge advantage. Not only would the climate be much more stable in these types of areas,but small animals also require far less food than large ones. Also, birds had the ability to fly, and even migrate/emigrate if needed. Living underwater could have similar benefits, especially in the short term, but once the environment changed the oceans enough to disrupt the food chains(through cooling, cyanobacteria and other marine autotrophes having far less sunlight, and thus far less food(which could potentially even change atmospheric oxygen levels), changes in ocean currents, which are largely due to differences in water temperature in different parts of the world, significant changes in pH levels(specifocally an increase in acidity), changes in nutrient levels, even entire ecosystems like coral reefs which not only require specific temperatures, sea levels, nutrients, etc., but also rely on the algae that lives on them for food(which in turn get their energy from the sun)), it led to an equally severe mass extinction there. It's estimated that about 75% of marine life/diversity was lost in the K-Pg extinction event. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to observe such a thing(from the safety of a time traveling capsule or something of course. Lol.) Not only the meteor impact, but the ensuing days, weeks, and years. In fact, it's long been thought that there was bit of an extinction(a more gradual one) going on even before the asteroid hit. It would be interesting to learn more about that, and to determine if it really was a significant extinction, or more an issue of taphonomy.

[@chuckgoecke]

I think this is it. Animals that lived underground during at least part of the time. Crocodillians, many of them, dig burrows often under water along the banks. Likewise with all frogs and lizards and small mammals and such, and the cliff birds. The scenario he posits here for the immediate aftermath of the strike is one of a lesser initial impact, like only bad in North America, but the lasting impact nuclear winter lasting many years to decades. I don't think this is right. The atmosphere would clear itself in a matter of months or just a few years. But the initial impact would, besides really destroying North America with the blast waves and tsunamis, also lofted gigatons of ejecta, both of the meteorite and the rock blasted out, up into and even beyond in some cases orbit. Most of it went into very high near orbit, that alter re-entered at crazy high velocities, giving a rain of super hot particles over the whole earth. This is the sky is an oven for a few hours scenario, and oven on hyper clean mode, like 700°F+, over more or less the whole earth. All land life was toasted and burned that was above ground. But studies of underground life at the UT Austin, I think, showed that even literal inches of soil, like near a foot or less provided protection for several hours. Thus even the roots of trees may have survived and any seeds that happened to be under ground deep enough. The smoke of all land plant vegetation plus all the sulfates from the Meteorite slamming into Gypsum rich sediments did certainly create a nasty "nuclear" winter, but I doubt it lasted many many years. Then all the things he said about warmblooded calorie needs also contributed, but I suspect that since no Dinos burrowed or even lived much in water, they just got cooked initially.

[@maxyneschaw7040]

I have never been into dinosaurs until my son came along. I know more species now than ever. Glad I came across your channel, very informative👍🏿

[@frozengamer3030]

I am in my 30s and I love dinosaurs

[@leneyboo]

Did you take him to watch Jurassic World?!

[@12gauge_shawtyy]

that’s adorable. i loved tjem and so did my brother lol

[@msdd7610]

Lmfao I used to (probably) bore my parents cause I used to be obsessed with them

[@infini_ryu9461]

Dinosaurs are an enormous group. Even if we count just the birds there are more species of birds today than mammals. Kinda wild.

[@ethanperks372]

I would like to add one 'theory'. It seems the most dinosaurs required considerable parental care from adults. While crocodilians receive parental protection they are quite able to survive upon hatching. This would be especially true in a world where most threats to hatchlings have already perished. Plus, they might hibernate as well as only needing to eat once or twice a year.

[@arturoeugster2377]

The meteorite that collided blew a portion of the atmosphere into space, reducing the oxygen pressure. Alligators dive, being used to live under whater with temporarely no air, not diving, they had sufficient oxygen to survive. Avians can fly at altitude at reduced oxygen pressure, when the pressure was reduced, the survived by not flying or flying low. The large animals simply asphyxiated.

[@rongreen4231]

I believe alligators will eat other alligators should the opportunity arise. I would imagine crocs will do the same? Scarcity of food would exacerbate this and young gators/ crocs would be vulnerable. No basis for this, just my thoughts.

[@TheSpeep]

My guess, before having watched the video, would be that crocodiles largely managed to survive due to their relatively low metabolism. I feel like the ability to just chill out for half a year or more without needing to eat might have come in handy during any kind of mass extinction event, whereas more active, warm blooded, large predators would not have had that luxury.

[@PBs1423]

it blew my mind when i learnt crocs can survive with no food for 3 years

[@jollyrodger5319]

Awesome Mr important fact the water protected them along with other aquatic creatures so they still had a semi food source for a long time plus they're scavengers they eat rotten me they don't eat fresh stuff so that helped a lot

[@richarddoan9172]

Isn't that basically what he said in the video?

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

@@richarddoan9172 He said BEFORE he watched the video

[@Rhachette]

@@richarddoan9172 read the comment again

[@DanHarkless_Halloween_YTPs_etc]

Great vid! The survival of the crocodilians has never seemed that mysterious to me, due to their energy efficiency, as you mentioned; their good camouflage; and the fact that most animals need to go to the watering hole, so there's always plenty of prey coming to the ambush predator crocs, and all they need do is wait. Also, there's their strong immune systems that make them capable of eating rotting, waterlogged carcasses without concern. I've always found non-bog-standard crocodilians like the gharials particularly cool, and in some ways the terrestrial crocs are scarier to me than the equivalent dinosaurs. I guess the terror is more palpable since crocs are still extant, so imagining them without one of their few weaknesses, their inability to run after you, is particularly easy to do. I was unaware of some of the other interesting extinct crocs you mentioned, though, particularly the herbivorous ones! Wild!! It's also kind of amazing to imagine all the remaining carnivorous dinosaurs having to turn on each other and engage in Jurassic Park-style fights after the herbivorous dino prey had dried up. A big change to the "it's not worth the risk to fight you" equation. Anyhow, despite the fact that I already had a pretty good idea why the crocs survived and the non-avian dinos didn't, your video kept me rapt throughout. I was especially impressed by your ability to talk extemporaneously for so long, and with so few cuts. Not sure what your usual line of work is, but you'd definitely make a good teacher. Very glad that KZbin recommended this video to me, and you've got my subscription.

[@20twin69]

Well said. If u can look at nature non objectively...their survival is almost a no brainer

[@kanishkchaturvedi1745]

Eloquent sir!

[@komolkovathana8568]

I guess it s not about totally energy efficient But only the Survivors must be able to HOLD THEIR BREATH LONG ENOUGH, during meteorites strikes on earth, causing Tsunami, worldwide temporary flood that drown most of land animal and suffocating most fish species. Whales and dolphins do hold their breath but they will not walk back to sea, cuz they haven't got legs, compared to,says, sealion or walrus, if they lived those time, they will survived. Even they didnt got thick skins like crocs, or armor like sea turtles, but their body covered with thick fat skin protect them in case that strong waves will strike them to the rocky clifff or rough shore. Crocs can hold the breath upto 40 minutes, sea turtles ...4 hours.

[@DanHarkless_Halloween_YTPs_etc]

@@komolkovathana8568 Hmm, I haven't before seen theories that there was worldwide flooding after the K-Pg event, and the "Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event" Wikipedia article, for instance, says nothing to that effect. I think the consensus is that the megatsunamis from the Chicxulub asteroid only affected coastal areas, especially low-lying ones, mostly around the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Do you have a reference for that (besides religious flood myths)? That said, you're no doubt correct that that would have been a significant factor _in_ those affected near-coast areas, and crocodiles probably did have had a pretty good chance of surviving that, due to their toughness, long breath-holding ability, and amphibious nature, as you note, plus their being built for spinning around in the water as in the "death rolls" they do to their prey. @20 Twin, Kanishk Chaturvedi: Thank you kindly! [And sorry for the delayed reply; KZbin apparently decided to turn off my email notifications against my will at some point.]

[@NickVenture1]

Very well explained and also I noticed how well you chose the words in the narrative. It was not only educational about the crocodilians but at least as much of a pleasure to just listen to you talking. Thank you for all this.

[@apexnext]

Yeah I just found this channel recently. I can tell I will enjoy him talking in an ASMR sense as much as I will enjoy the content! 😎👍

[@WildSkyMtn]

This makes me wonder how close to extinction some of these species got and how many species barely missed survival. Like were there 100 crocodiles left on earth before their numbers started coming back, or were there 100,000. A species only needs a few dozen survivors to come back

[@duress8801]

Yea that is a great question I think i read somewhere that even our human population was in low numbers in certain point of our history

[@auklon3372]

Typically once you get down to a certian number, the species is doomed for lack of genetic diversity.

[@Saturnius]

@@duress8801 low as in 70,000.

[@TheMachDisk]

@@Saturnius low as in 6 women

[@dontnerfmebro8052]

​@@TheMachDisk there is no way I know of to varify if it was so little. it may be better to scew towards higher numbers, given our historic breeding habits, particularly in our pre-agricultural stage of society structures.

[@craigrussell3062]

The fact that he has to say "non-avian dinosaurs went extinct" proves that he knows the question is flawed from the start, because dinosaurs didn't go extinct; I had one for dinner last night. Birds are the dinosaurs that didn't go extinct, just like the modern crocodile family are the crocodilians that didn't go extinct.

[@caljerm]

Bingo 👍👍

[@keegs2441]

Birds only came from one small group of dinosaurs

[@craigrussell3062]

@@keegs2441 So? Modern humans only come from one small branch of hominids. Are hominids extinct?

[@stefanopatton1809]

@@craigrussell3062 get’em

[@craigrussell3062]

@@keegs2441 Also, the history of dinosaurs is defined by a series of extinction events that cleared the playing field for a new group of dinosaurs to rise. As a famous xkcd reminded us, Tyrannosaurus rex is closer in time to a sparrow than a stegosaurus, and more closely related as well. In the era of T. rex, the stegosaurus was extinct, but dinosaurs continued on in new forms. In the age of the emu, the penguin, the raptor, the goose, and the robin, T. rex is extinct, but dinosaurs live on in an incredible variety of fascinating forms.

[@truthspeaker1074]

There's another factor when talking about the large dinosaurs and even why the extremely large insects that existed during the cretaceous period and that is the oxygen levels then versus in our modern era. It is estimated that the oxygen level during the dinosaur period was at 30%, whereas our oxygen level now is at 20%. Those extremely large dinosaurs needed higher oxygen levels and of course, the warmth.

[@robosing225]

what's your take on every molecule formed on earth, remained the same number since the dinosaurs? meaning, the water we are drinking, the air we are breathing is the exact same that passed through the dinosaurs millions of years ago. I heard someone say we are breathing the same air spoken by Shakespeare or Hitler since that collection of oxygen, nitrogen, etc, molecules gets recycled or dispersed into the atmosphere. How wrong am i in this understanding?

[@cortneystowers5247]

@@robosing225 it's a long discussion, but in short different fauna and flora can lockup gasses and other material. So a tree will capture carbon, die and then under the right conditions it won't decompose fully and slowly be pushed into the ground where it can lock up these resources. Furthermore, air is made up of multiple gasses which are captured in different forms like animals breathing or plants absorbing carbon dioxide, through processes we release a different gas, such as humans breathing oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide etc. And finally, the earth is moving on the mantel, so as tectonic plates shift they can release extra gas or molecules from the earth's centre changing the ratio. This is a very insane simplification - it's easier to remember that generally nothing leaves earth however different molecules can be trapped in different ways for long periods of time. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong!

[@davidc.w.2908]

@@robosing225 the amount of oxygen in the air was much higher during the time dinosaurs ruled the earth. When insects are bred and raised in a lab with a higher amount of oxygen they grow bigger. There are videos of that on KZbin.

[@Tonius126]

Oxygen level is not a reliable correlation to size. Just look at the blue whale, the largest animal ever and it lives in the modern era

[@MasterGhostf]

@@davidc.w.2908 They do grow bigger, but up to an extent. The rest is based on genetics.

[@davidboyle1902]

It’s likely turtles, lizards, and snakes followed similar routes in surviving the KT event. I’ve always been curious why studies of the survivors hasn’t been more vigorous. Good presentation.

[@ronque23]

Great explanation! Makes a lot of sense. I remember seeing how some crocs or gators will survive freezing conditions by going into a lake and sticking their noses above the water surface. They go into a kind of suspended state that can last months.

[@uberdonkey9721]

My zoology lecturer said it was the liver. Crocodiles have musculature around the liver that allows them to control their breath better. Not many people know that oxygen around the time of the dinosaurs was 30-40% and then decreased to today's 21%. This ushered in the era or mammals; warm blooded, small and diaphragm for good deep breath control. The crocodile was the only one that could still survive in these conditions. Of course these lectures were 30 years ago, so not sure of modern thinking in science Take home message is that oxygen levels aren't stable so don't expect the earth's atmosphere to be suitable for humans/mammals forever either.

[@Eclipse.7897]

But crocodiles aren't the only reptiles still around?

[@chalkster4723]

Very interesting insight. Thanks for sharing.

[@SarahNGeti]

@@Eclipse.7897 *Largest* is the key word, oxygen levels always has a role to play.

[@xXSinForLifeXx]

Pretty sure the oxygen level was why Dinosaurs got so big during that time aswell.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

It was higher than it is today but not nearly that high.

[@Talltrees84]

You talk about endo and exto therms. There is also something called a mesotherm. Only a small number of species fall under this listing. Sharks and tuna. Their body temperature will fluctuate with the temperature of thier environment but will reach a floor where their body temperature will not drop further. Good in warm waters where they would have to consume fewer calories and good in colder waters where they can be active.

[@lavonakirtley9280]

Now the question is, why did the small nonavain Dino’s die out? Wonder if it had to do with reproductive strategies. Bird incubation is relatively quick, but from what I’ve read dinosaurs took much longer to hatch. Thus requiring the nesting parent to be tied to the nest for that much longer.

[@42Fossy]

I've seen a recent paper proposing that it's because of their teeth. On their own, teeth take up a huge amount of gestation time in the egg, so the avian dinosaurs that evolved beaks hatched their eggs much quicker. That probably gave them the edge come the extinction event.

[@lb2791]

I'm not an expert, but I can think two contributing factors: First of all, there weren't many small nonavian dinosaur species left. The niches for smaller species were mostly filled by other groups by this point or by young animals of large species. Second, most small species were theropods, so they were carnivores, which meant they had a hard time surviving as their prey disappeared. Avian dinosaurs could also be omnivores and could survive on a more diverse diet which also included seeds which would be around for a while even when the corresponding plant species had declined or disappeared completely.

[@mario97br]

I would guess it's because of the most obvious trait avian dinosaurs have, that non-avian don't have. They can fly and by this have a much larger area of operation. We have to remember, most animals went extinct because they didn't find enough food over several years due to winter. Birds simply flew somewhere else till they found a spot with food. It takes much longer for a similar sized animal to go the same distance.

[@epcdasilent]

@Javier Parraga Most smaller pterosaurs were already out-completed by the early birds (avian dinos) during the mid-late Cretaceous, only the large pterosaurs were successful due to their size advantage. By the time the big extinction happened, the large pterosaurs couldn't find enough food and went extinct as well. Opening up the niche for the smaller birds that did survive to take over.

[@Gendiba1]

So..what about ictioasurus or aquatic dinos? Were they warm blooded? If not, How did they went extinct? I assume they had similar survival strategies as crocodiles

[@jamesdelcol3701]

Love this question. Things went dry and some areas still had swampy conditions with small things that they normally eat anyway. They reduced in size during this atmospheric condition over a period of thousands of years. They changed size and reduced how much food intake. When the earth's atmosphere became more habitable, they grew and changed a little in size and biology in varying ways in different places. And they stayed small and bigger birthers in other places like Caymans. Amazing evolutionary story of this animal. They survived and have never returned to a super large size like in ancient period, but they are a great predator and a beautiful animal. Crocs are awesome. I like how they interact with hippos. They have a healthy fear of hippos. Hippos are actually kind of nasty. They will try for their young, but they will not mess with a bull. They run, swim away.