Sold individually Alligators are remnants of an age long gone and are the closest thing we have (until someone decides to pull a Jurassic Park, which seems imminent) to dinosaurs walking the Earth. The American alligator as we know it today didn’t live alongside the dinosaurs, but its ancestors absolutely did. Alligators belong to a group called archosaurs, which includes both modern crocodilians and extinct dinosaurs. The American alligator itself showed up more recently—around 6 to 8 million years ago—but it's part of a lineage that’s basically shrugged off several mass extinction events. Considering how most creatures fared during those times, it’s an absolute wonder these are even still around today. An interesting tidbit about them is their ability to grow new teeth throughout their lifetime. Alligators can lose up to 3,000 teeth over the course of their lives, but for every tooth they lose, a new one grows in to take its place. Considering the force their massive jaws can produce—around 2,000 pounds of pressure—it’s no wonder they evolved to constantly replace the teeth lost during one of their titanic bites. This process keeps their mouths lined with sharp, functional teeth so they can keep on crushing prey. You’ll also notice that some teeth look different from others. That’s because alligators have a wide variety of teeth, each suited for a different job. They’ve got teeth for gripping, crushing, grinding, and straight-up snapping things in half. Considering alligators eat turtles—shell and all—they need a full toolkit of teeth to enjoy their meals properly.
Related
Related
Related
Related