Young American Alligators Can Regrow Their Tails, Study Shows

#crocodiles #cool shit!

New Evidence Suggests Ancient Crocodiles Swam From Africa to America

https://sciencespies.com/news/new-evidence-suggests-ancient-crocodiles-swam-from-africa-to-america/

New Evidence Suggests Ancient Crocodiles Swam From Africa to America

Most American crocodiles don’t need to look far to find the feature that sets them apart from Nile crocodiles. The difference lies right between their eyes and their nostrils. Of crocodiles living today, only the four crocodile species that live in the Americas have a small bump in the middle of their snouts.

But about seven million years ago, a ten-foot-long crocodile living in what’s now Libya had the same tell-tale lump, according to research published in Scientific Reports last week. A fossil skull of the extinct Crocodylus checchiai provides more evidence that crocodiles spread across the world by migrating from Australia, through Africa and finally to South America.

The fossil “fills a gap between the Nile crocodile in Africa and the four extant American species,” University of Turin paleoherpetologist Massimo Delfino says to Science News’ Carolyn Wilke.

The fact that crocodiles live on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean has long puzzled biologists trying to figure out which direction the giant reptiles migrated. Genetic research in 2011 provided molecular evidence that crocodiles migrated from Africa to the Americas, but fossil evidence was scant.

“The main problem for palaeobiologists is the rarity and fragmentary nature of fossil remains,” Delfino and co-author David Iurino told the Agence France-Presse by email.

The seven million-year-old Crocodylus checchiai skull was first collected in 1939.

(Image by Bruno Mercurio)

The fossil described in the new paper is one of four that were first described in the 1930s. Three that were stored in the Natural History Museum in Tripoli, Libya, were lost or destroyed during World War II, according to the Scientific Reports paper. But the researchers found the fourth skull, originally collected in 1939, stored in the Sapienza University of Rome.

“This fossil is twice-old,” Delfino tells Nina Pullano at Inverse, referencing the fact that the skull is millions of years old and had then been forgotten for decades.The researchers used CT scanning to create a 3D model of the inside and outside of the skull for closer study and confirmed the presence of the American crocodile-like snout bump.

At seven million years old, the C. checchiai skull predates all known crocodile fossils in America, the oldest of which are about five million years old, Lucy Hicks reports for Science magazine. That means that the timeline checks out: it’s possible that C. checchiai may have made their way from Libya to the western coast of Africa, swam across the Atlantic and landed on the shores of South America.

The continents were about the same distance apart seven million years ago as they are today, making the journey across the ocean quite a feat—but not impossible. The researchers point out in a statement that the Australian marine crocodile has been recorded travelling more than 300 miles in a day. The prehistoric croc may have also bobbed along on one of the ocean’s surface currents that travel west from Africa to the Americas.

Crocodiles are also not the only flightless animal thought to have reached the New World by crossing the Atlantic. As the Inverse reports, a study published in April suggests that on two instances, monkeys made their way across the ocean on floating vegetation.

“If you think that the monkey can cross the Atlantic Ocean, very probably it’s much easier to accept that the crocodile can do it,” Delfino tells Inverse. Ancient crocodiles had the specialized glands necessary to swim and survive in saltwater and may have snacked on sea turtles along the way.

As a changing climate wiped out local species, crocodiles were well adapted to the late-Miocene environment and replaced them, the researchers write in the paper. The original crew of ocean-crossing crocs may have included many individuals or at least one pregnant female, Science News reports.

And after situating themselves in South America, they evolved and diversified into the four species found in the Americas today. (Only the American crocodile and American alligator are found in the United States.)

But whether or not the crocodilians mourn their C. checchiai ancestors is hard to tell—they might just be crocodile tears, after all.

#News

I wonder if the role of those two is ever going to expand at some point.

Max's city friends trying to text him again: How was your first week in the new town?

Max: I solved at least 4 people's emotional issues and was rewarded by being trapped here forever. I'm also being stalked and blackmailed and a kid broke my scooter. On the bright side, I'm basically a superhero.

Damien and Sam: You know you don't have to make stuff up. It's only been 6 days, we didn't expect much of a report

Symbolism Associated With Flowers For Writers

Acacia: Since ancient times, acacia has been associated with purity and innocence. It is also a symbol of resurrection and new beginnings.

Amaryllis: Amaryllis is a symbol of passion and desire. It is also associated with strength and courage.

Anemone: Anemone is a symbol of grief and sorrow. It is also associated with hope and new beginnings.

Azalea: Azalea is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty and elegance.

Carnation: Carnation is a symbol of love, affection, and appreciation. It is also associated with motherhood and childbirth.

Chrysanthemum: Chrysanthemum is a symbol of longevity, happiness, and good luck. It is also associated with death and mourning.

Daisy: Daisy is a symbol of innocence, purity, and simplicity. It is also associated with childhood and new beginnings.

Delphinium: Delphinium is a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. It is also associated with royalty and nobility

Frangipani: Frangipani is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty and elegance.

Gardenia: Gardenia is a symbol of purity, innocence, and grace. It is also associated with love and admiration.

Gerbera Daisy: Gerbera daisy is a symbol of new beginnings, happiness, and joy. It is also associated with optimism and hope.

Hyacinth: Hyacinth is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with grief and sorrow.

Iris: Iris is a symbol of faith, hope, and wisdom. It is also associated with royalty and nobility.

Lily: Lily is a symbol of purity, innocence, and chastity. It is also associated with resurrection and new beginnings.

Lily of the Valley: Lily of the valley is a symbol of purity, innocence, and sweetness. It is also associated with new beginnings and springtime.

Magnolia: Magnolia is a symbol of love, beauty, and elegance. It is also associated with femininity and motherhood.

Orchid: Orchid is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty, rarity, and luxury.

Rose: Rose is the most popular flower in the world and has a wide range of symbolism. It can symbolize love, passion, desire, beauty, romance, friendship, gratitude, and respect.

Tulip: Tulip is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with springtime and new beginnings.

Why Symbolism With Flowers Is Important For Writers

Flowers can be used to foreshadow events or themes in a story. For example, a writer might use a white rose to foreshadow a character's death, or a red rose to foreshadow a romantic encounter.

Flowers can be used to represent characters' emotions or motivations. For example, a character who is feeling sad might be described as holding a wilted flower, or a character who is feeling passionate might be described as surrounded by roses.

Flowers can be used to create symbolism that is specific to a particular culture or region. For example, in some cultures, the lotus flower is a symbol of purity and enlightenment, while in other cultures, it is a symbol of death and rebirth.

What Is This Terrifying Giant Sea Creature?

“Writing begins with forgiveness. Let go of the shame about how long it’s been since you last wrote, the clenching fear that you’re not a good enough writer, the doubts over whether or not you can get it done. Sure, the nagging demons will come creeping back, but set them aside anyway, and then set them aside again when they do. Concoct a hot beverage, play a beautiful song, look inward, and then begin.”

— Daniel Jose Older, from a Nanowrimo pep talk, but good advice for most any writing. (via superfluousbananas)

What a croc! 🐊 This Fossil Friday, let’s take a bite out of the weekend with Deinosuchus—a giant crocodilian that lived alongside the dinosaurs some 75 million years ago. Reaching lengths of more than 35 feet (10.7 m) and weighing more than 8,000 lbs (3628.7 kg), Deinosuchus was as long as a school bus and as heavy as an elephant, making it one of the most powerful predators in its ecosystem. In fact, partially healed bite marks found on the bones of a tyrannosaur in North America match this giant croc’s teeth, suggesting Deinosuchus could go toe to toe with even the most formidable of dinosaurs.

This image is a historical reconstruction from 1942 and is not representative of current size estimates.

Photo: Image no. 318634 © AMNH Library #paleontology #fossils #dinosaurs #fossilfriday #amnh #museum https://www.instagram.com/p/CqLMKD5M5cW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

When Max gets pulled into Spirit Trance again in Chapter 4, there's a better look at the background. Sand dunes and what looks like pyramids in the distance. We know that when Spirit Trance involves more than one spirit, the world takes on characteristics of both spirits, as seen with Patchworm and the Ghost Train:

Sphinxes can easily be associated with both a desert environment and pyramids, so there might be more fuel for this theory here.

Also as Max is falling after being repelled by the ghost train, right before he loses consciousness there's something on his back:

Those could be the wings of a Sphinx preventing him from becoming a splat on the ground. After all, if this Sphinx hijacking a ride is the reason Max became a spectral, and it did so to get into Mayview, what good would it do to have its ride die outside the barrier, leaving it right back where it started?

The B.E.R.G possessing Max isn’t a piece of the shadow spirit

I recently read through chapter 5, and with the last two pages that have been released I noticed something that I think gives away the identity of the spirit hiding in Max. I think that whatever is in Max is a very powerful, or maybe even the leader of the Sphinxes.

First, back in Chapter 3, when BERG is speaking to Doorman, he exclaims, “ ARROGANCE. YOUR POWER IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF. RIDDLES AND WORD GAMES.” And so far, both our Sphinx of Games and Twuth have powers that manifest through words.

Additionally, BERG alludes to his faction. When we first met the Sphinx of Games he ran off saying that “the others” will hear about this. And until now that just seemed like an empty threat. When Doorman is contemplating about Max’s situation:

He says “one of the s-” Now I’m kinda grasping at straws on this one, but the freaky shadow spirit seems to be an independent entity, but we now have proof that the sphinxes are a group and it’s entirely possible that the sentence could have finished as “one of the sphinxes.” I’m thinking that this chapters gonna end with BERG kinda revealing himself to Sphinx of Twuth to get him to bug off.

Cheetahs are wonderful animals.

I didn’t know cheetahs meow I’ve always thought they roar my whole life has been a lie