Crocodiles were once vegetarians reveals study

Once upon a time crocodiles were vegetarian. It may sound strange now. You even can not think of crocodiles living on vegetables. But a new study reveals that on a certain age in the evolution crocodiles were vegetarian.

Crocodiles were often described by biologists as ‘living fossils’ due to their close resemblance to their predecessors, who once roamed around the earth at a time when dinosaurs lived on earth.

Now a recent study has revealed that the crocodiles, which are considered violent as well as carnivorous were vegetarians and lived on plants during the Mesozoic Era. The study was carried out by Keegan Maelstrom and his supervisor Randal Irmis of the University of Utah.

The researchers analyzed 146 teeth from 16 unique relatives of modern crocodiles. The carnivores possess simple teeth whereas herbivores have much more complex teeth, Melstrom said.

But it is still unclear what the various crocodile species varied so radically, an what environmental conditions may have prompted the dramatic forking of the crocodile species.