MadSci Network: Evolution
Query:

Re: Can dinosaurs re-evolve from crocodiles or other reptiles?

Date: Thu Jun 8 20:38:40 2006
Posted By: Mike Klymkowsky, Professor
Area of science: Evolution
ID: 1149034889.Ev
Message:






re-evolution of dinosaurs








 

The Dinosaurs are extinct members of the larger group of vertebrates known as the archosauria, the living members of this group include the crocodiles and birds.  

As a group, the archosaurs separated from the the other main types of reptiles, the turtles and the snakes and lizards (the lepidosauria) approximately 250 million years ago (the dinosaurs as a group went extinct approximately 65 million years ago.

 
 

The evolutionary process that lead to the formation of modern crocodiles and extinct dinosaurs from their common ancestor involved many mutations, selection, and the formation of new species. 

Compared to their common ancestor, both crocodiles are, and the various types of dinosaurs were, well adapted to their own specific, and rather different ecological niches (their ways of making a living). 

 

Now, to answer your question, is it possible for this process to run in reverse?  In theory, the answer is yes in the sense that a population of modern crocodiles could find themselves living under conditions where, over millions of years, and in specific environments, their ancestors could come to look like dinosaurs (upright in poster, rather than sprawling). 

However, it is extremely unlikely that the organisms that resulted would be dinosaurs - they would differ in lots of anatomical and genetic details.  In a sense, it would be an example of convergent evolution, in which organisms that are similar are formed from different ancestors. 

 

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