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| Living World Lecture: What Ate the Dinosaurs? The Evolution of Crocodile Jaws |
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| Start Date: | 9/21/2012 | Start Time: | 7:30 PM |
| End Date: | 9/21/2012 | |
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Event Description
Speaker: Dr. Paul Gignac, Professor, Department of Anatomical Sciences
Our cultural fascination with crocodiles and alligators has spanned the centuries from Egyptian and Mayan deities, to dragon mythology and icons of imperial power, all the way to modern television and movie popular culture. We have typically thought of these animals as “living fossil,” but new data is showing that the evolutionary story of crocodiles, alligators, caiman, gharials, and their ancestors has been remarkably dynamic. Although you might not know it from the numerous at-risk and endangered crocodilians around the world today, their history shows that they were among the most successful group of fossil reptiles. Dr. Gignac’s research brings together a detailed understanding of their modern feeding biology with their extensive fossil record to show how these predators have so successfully made a living during their epic 200 million year reign—and how they were even able to hunt and kill their largest Mesozoic competitors, the theropod dinosaurs. |
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