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The crocodile has not changed in 200 million years - the oldest creature on Earth

Close your eyes and imagine: dinosaurs walk on the ground, pterodactyls fly in the sky, and a crocodile lies in the swamp. A tyrannosaurus comes to a watering hole - the crocodile grabs it by the paw. Millions of years pass. Dinosaurs are extinct. A giant meteorite falls to Earth. All large animals disappear. And the crocodile... the crocodile hides in the water and survives. Again.

Crocodiles appeared on Earth over 200 million years ago. They saw the rise and fall of dinosaurs. They saw the first mammals appear. They saw the first people come out of caves. And in all this time they have changed little! The ancient Sarcosuchus, which lived 110 million years ago, was similar to a modern crocodile, only 12 meters long.

Why are they so tenacious? First, the crocodile's heart has 4 chambers — like a human's. It's very perfect. Second, its stomach can even dissolve the bones and shells of turtles. Third, it can go a whole year without eating! It slows down its metabolism and just waits.

And the crocodile has the strongest bite of any living creature — 1,700 kilograms of force. Imagine having a car placed on your teeth — that’s how the crocodile’s jaws clench.

The next time you see a crocodile at the zoo, look into its eyes. Those eyes have seen dinosaurs. They are a living time machine. And they still work—without a single update in 200 million years.