Ponderings of a Scientist

This week I’m giving props to the Reptiles.  Reptiles ruled the roost, so to speak (they are most closely related to birds), before a catastrophic event (likely a massive meteor hitting Mexico/the Gulf of Mexico) triggered a mass extinction some 65 million years ago.  This extinction event allowed for the lesser mammals, which had been religated to the worst earthy habitats, to take over space and food resources once dominatated by the reptilians.  From their, these rodent sized mammals spread and diversified, eventually covering most of the Earth’s ecosystems and spawning a lineage of prosimians later to evolve the primate destroyer species of the Earth, Homo sapien.  Thank’s reptiles for clearing the path for Mammailian Dominance….

Spotlight:  Alligator Snapping Turtle!  This grumpy looking guy is a walking fossil, like his reptile cousins the Crocs and Alligators, turtles haven’t done much evolving in the last 100+ million years.  Apparently, they figured out this survival of the fittest thing long before Darwin.  (Just think, had the Dinosaurs lived, mammals could still be a minimal family of misfits stuck in the dank and dark places of the world.)  While I personally prefer charismatic sea turtles, I wanted to highlight a lesser known species.  Alligator Snappers have a lure on their tongue that attracts their prey and then snap down the gullet!  How’s that for lazy (genius), sit and let dinner come to you!