1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,240 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Boblebaum. Here, if you traveled back in 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: time eight million years to visit what's now the state 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: of Florida, you might see sabretooth cats, some small ancient horses, 5 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: and maybe even a giant beaver. But one animal would 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: look exactly the same as it does today, the alligator. 7 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: And this was news to scientists as of just a 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 1: few years ago. In the University of Florida put out 9 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: a press release about a former student, one Evan Whiting, 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: who was at that point a doctoral student at the 11 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: University of Minnesota. That summer, Whiting had had a couple 12 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: of pertinent papers published in the Journal of Herpetology and 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: the Journal paleo Geography, Paleoclimatology, paleo Ecology, which I'm fascinated 14 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: about the existence of, he said in the press release. 15 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,639 Speaker 1: Even thirty million years ago, alligators looked much different. We 16 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,279 Speaker 1: were surprised to find fossil alligators from this deepened time 17 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: that actually belonged to the living species rather than an 18 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: extinct one. The modern American alligator, taxonomical name Alligator Mrs. Abiensis, 19 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: is a member of the order Crocodilia, an ancient group 20 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: of animals that's hung in there for more than eighty 21 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: four million years. Whiting and his co authors re examined 22 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: an eight million year old alligator skull found in Marion County, Florida, 23 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: originally thought to belong to an extinct species. The closer 24 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: they looked, the more sure they became that the skull 25 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: belonged to the modern American alligator, which scientists have up 26 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: until now thought evolved into a separate species around just 27 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: two million years ago. Their analysis means the species has 28 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: remained virtually untouched by evolution for six million years, longer 29 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: than previously thought. This is interesting in and of itself, 30 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: but the researchers believe it also shed some light on 31 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: why the American alligator keeps too freshwater habitats in a 32 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: place that surrounded by rich saltwater ecosystems. If the American 33 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 1: alligator is as old as these researchers believe it to be, 34 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: it probably once shared the Florida shores with a species 35 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: of marine crocodile that grew to twenty five feet that's 36 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: seven meters long, and when extinct around five million years ago. 37 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 1: It's possible that the smaller species at the time, the 38 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: American alligator, evolved to prefer freshwater habitats to avoid becoming 39 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: a food source for these crocodilian behemoths. Study co author 40 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: David Steadman, the Ornithology curator at the Florida Museum of 41 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: Natural History at the University of Florida, said in that 42 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: press release, evans research shows alligators didn't evolve in a 43 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: vacuum with no other crocodilians around. The gators we see 44 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: today do not really compete with anything, but millions of 45 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: years ago, it was not only competing with another type 46 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: of crocodilian, it was compete with a much larger one. 47 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: Though it remained entirely unchanged over millions of years, the 48 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: American alligator was nearly hunted to extinction in the mid 49 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: twentieth century, when alligator leather goods became all the rage. 50 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,959 Speaker 1: It was listed as an endangered species in nineteen sixty seven, 51 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: but after two decades of concentrated conservation efforts, it was 52 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: delisted in and is now considered a species of least concern. 53 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article Alligators go back 54 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: six million years further than thought on how stuff works 55 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: dot Com written by Jesselyn Shields. Brain Stuff is production 56 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com, 57 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my 58 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 59 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.