Alternatively, if it has worked for tens of millions of years, then why is no one else doing it?
this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
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Because they already are and no one seems to be able to stop them.
Can't out croc the croc.
Maybe because anyone else that wants to use that needs to become them.
Because they were able to survive without doing it.
Though iirc some birds of prey do the sky version of this. Or maybe the cliff version.
I love how there's multiple species of birds that like to drop stuff from far up to break it open. Fucking chuck it!
Has your test worked out?
Did not realise that also included other crocodiles?
Chomp first ask questions later.
I remember feeling really sad watching some nature show and they mentioned how they just bite whatever touches their mouth and sure enough it bumped into another croc floating next to it and it bit and spun off the other crocs leg
I know exactly the video you're taking about and it reminds me of something that I find mind-blowing. Just like crocodilians, sharks haven't evolved much in millions of years. But there can be a seemingly chaotic and fast paced feeding frenzy involving a dozen sharks all competing to grab a bite of something and somehow they don't bite each other. How they manage to tell peer from prey in conditions like that I have no idea.
Surely it must be related to their ability to sense changes to water pressure to an incredible degree. Otherwise they could never keep a Sharknado stable for more than a few seconds.
This was the coolest shit I'm going to read all month
I think ive heard that they still do pretty well even with missing limbs though
The meme says "everything".
My impression is that carnivores need teeth that pierce and rip, so they can't do much ruminating.
Most mammalian carnivores have a sort of mix. They have the piercing canines, then their molars act like scissors to slice off hunks of meat. Herbivore and human molars are more for crushing.
Reptilian muscles fatigue waaay faster than mammalian's. That's probably the reason why chewing doesn't work for them. Also, the white muscle from reptiles is very good at giving explosive force, which is exactly what they are doing instead...
This is a physiological difference given their evolution. I remember it from college. Biologist here.
And . the same applies to why we can't catch lizards, they are so fast.. Right?.. until they aren't. The trick to catch them is to make them run a little ;p
If it ain't broke...
"Ain't broke" is under selling this. Evolutionarily, this is clearly the optimal solution.
"Ain't broke" is a lot better of a description than "fittest".
Evolution selects for the first thing that happens to work. It' doesn't have to work particularly well, only well enough to not die from it.
not to die too early from it.
Passing on genes is successful enough for evolution.
Like male cochineals, who can't feed themselves after reaching adulthood, but are able to reproduce before dying of hunger. Evolution can be really cruel.
It's also a local maxima trap. To shift to chewing, they would have to change both bite behaviour, and teeth structure. The intermediate stage is a lot worse than either style.
Even if chewing was the better option, it's inaccessible from the crocs current method.
Me: Choking on a bone
My dinner guests: stunned after I bit into the whole Thanksgiving turkey and slammed my face into the table
Needs more crab
If it ain't broke...
I'm pretty sure whatever that was is pretty fucking broken now...
...slam it on the water again.
It must be working, considering the results.
Can't iterate on perfection.
I misread "buttfucking" as "butterfucking", which I am now going to start using.
The word or activity? Which will you start employing?
Well, it is organic lubricant, I suppose.
Thats not... inaccurate.
These jaws aren't suited for chewing. They're suited for tearing.
Crocodillians are so fucking cool!
Nice to know Demo hasn't died of alcoholism yet. Still waiting on that next video though
Yeah for real, being that tense while eating can’t be good for your digestive system.
And now I just imagine them as wrestlers suplexing their meals.
A croc themed beat em up game would be fuckin hilarious
Croc = Orcc