WEBVTT - How Old Are Alligators?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Boblebaum. Here, if you traveled back in

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<v Speaker 1>time eight million years to visit what's now the state

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<v Speaker 1>of Florida, you might see sabretooth cats, some small ancient horses,

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<v Speaker 1>and maybe even a giant beaver. But one animal would

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<v Speaker 1>look exactly the same as it does today, the alligator.

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<v Speaker 1>And this was news to scientists as of just a

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<v Speaker 1>few years ago. In the University of Florida put out

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<v Speaker 1>a press release about a former student, one Evan Whiting,

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<v Speaker 1>who was at that point a doctoral student at the

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<v Speaker 1>University of Minnesota. That summer, Whiting had had a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of pertinent papers published in the Journal of Herpetology and

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<v Speaker 1>the Journal paleo Geography, Paleoclimatology, paleo Ecology, which I'm fascinated

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<v Speaker 1>about the existence of, he said in the press release.

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<v Speaker 1>Even thirty million years ago, alligators looked much different. We

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<v Speaker 1>were surprised to find fossil alligators from this deepened time

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<v Speaker 1>that actually belonged to the living species rather than an

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<v Speaker 1>extinct one. The modern American alligator, taxonomical name Alligator Mrs. Abiensis,

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<v Speaker 1>is a member of the order Crocodilia, an ancient group

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<v Speaker 1>of animals that's hung in there for more than eighty

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<v Speaker 1>four million years. Whiting and his co authors re examined

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<v Speaker 1>an eight million year old alligator skull found in Marion County, Florida,

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<v Speaker 1>originally thought to belong to an extinct species. The closer

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<v Speaker 1>they looked, the more sure they became that the skull

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<v Speaker 1>belonged to the modern American alligator, which scientists have up

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<v Speaker 1>until now thought evolved into a separate species around just

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<v Speaker 1>two million years ago. Their analysis means the species has

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<v Speaker 1>remained virtually untouched by evolution for six million years, longer

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<v Speaker 1>than previously thought. This is interesting in and of itself,

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<v Speaker 1>but the researchers believe it also shed some light on

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<v Speaker 1>why the American alligator keeps too freshwater habitats in a

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<v Speaker 1>place that surrounded by rich saltwater ecosystems. If the American

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<v Speaker 1>alligator is as old as these researchers believe it to be,

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<v Speaker 1>it probably once shared the Florida shores with a species

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<v Speaker 1>of marine crocodile that grew to twenty five feet that's

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<v Speaker 1>seven meters long, and when extinct around five million years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>It's possible that the smaller species at the time, the

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<v Speaker 1>American alligator, evolved to prefer freshwater habitats to avoid becoming

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<v Speaker 1>a food source for these crocodilian behemoths. Study co author

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<v Speaker 1>David Steadman, the Ornithology curator at the Florida Museum of

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<v Speaker 1>Natural History at the University of Florida, said in that

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<v Speaker 1>press release, evans research shows alligators didn't evolve in a

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<v Speaker 1>vacuum with no other crocodilians around. The gators we see

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<v Speaker 1>today do not really compete with anything, but millions of

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<v Speaker 1>years ago, it was not only competing with another type

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<v Speaker 1>of crocodilian, it was compete with a much larger one.

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<v Speaker 1>Though it remained entirely unchanged over millions of years, the

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<v Speaker 1>American alligator was nearly hunted to extinction in the mid

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<v Speaker 1>twentieth century, when alligator leather goods became all the rage.

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<v Speaker 1>It was listed as an endangered species in nineteen sixty seven,

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<v Speaker 1>but after two decades of concentrated conservation efforts, it was

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<v Speaker 1>delisted in and is now considered a species of least concern.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article Alligators go back

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<v Speaker 1>six million years further than thought on how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com written by Jesselyn Shields. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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