• Pipoca@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    Crocodiles are clearly dinosaurs while birds have diverged so much they can only reasonably be called descendents of dinosaurs and nothing more. You can look at them and tell.

    Based on what?

      • Pipoca@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Various extinct crocodiles like Poposaurus were initially confused with dinosaurs due to some convergent evolution.

        But modern crocs lack a lot of distinctive dinosaur traits, like having their legs directly under them.

        More to the point, though, look at this fossil of caihong juji and tell me it doesn’t look more like a bird than a crocodile. Through a minor geologic miracle, the feathers were even preserved! It even seems like they were probably quite colorful.