Crocodile relatives' warm-climate preference may have helped them survive the dinosaur-killing asteroid

UCL reports that the Science Advances study found crocodile relatives largely tracked warm climates over roughly 250 million years, moving toward the tropics as Earth cooled. Simulations suggest equatorial and subtropical regions remained suitable after the asteroid impact in all but the most extreme scenario tested. The authors caution that climate alone does not explain their survival; smaller body size, flexible diets and semiaquatic lifestyles probably also helped.