Description
The smallest species of crocodilian is the Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman and the largest is the Saltwater Crocodile. The basic crocodilian body plan is a very successful one; modern species closely resemble their Cretaceous ancestors of 84 million years ago. Mammals, too, have adapted to this body plan at least once in history. One ancestral whale family, the Ambulocetidae, were aquatic predators living in rivers and lakes, and they filled an ecological niche similar to the crocodilians. Much earlier, before the age of reptiles, Amphibians like Prionosuchus and Platyoposaurus were the first animals to adopt this body plan and niche.
Read more about this topic: Crocodilia
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