Do crocodiles confound evolution, the idea that life forms evolve over time. One to ponder at https://phys.org/news/2021-01-crocodiles-age-dinosaurs.html … whilst it is probably the way the headline wording is phrased it never the less is an interesting idea as it would apply to other life forms, such as sharks. It is a fact that crocodiles outlasted the dinosaurs. Why?
Had perfection been achieved, or were they lucky blighters for surviving various mass extinction events, including the K/T boundary asteroid. Just why have crocodiles hardly changed from their Jurassic forebears? Why are they blessed with longevity and other animals perished and were never seen again. Why doesn't evolution give crocodiles bigger teeth, or a faster gait, or any number of traits. Modern crocodiles are somewhat similar to crocodiles of the dinosaur era. Were they lucky? As animals of a watery environment they could survive on land as well as in water – even in temporary floods of water. Their young emerge from eggs, somewhat like the dinosaurs. Were they adapted to eating putrid flesh, as there might have been a feast of dead dinners during catastrophic events, such as huge tsunami waves or giant volcanoes and geological upheavals. The same might be said of sharks I suppose, except they can't live on land. A mystery.