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was somehow sped up. Because the dino- saurs were poikilothermic, or cold-blooded, a sudden drop in the temperature would not only have devastated their vegetative food supply but greatly reduced their body functions and their ability to move. The crocodilians survived in part because they spend a large part of their time in water, which is more temperature stable than air. There is also the possibility that many fish, which are the crocodilians’ main food source, survived by eating each other. There is also the probability that the croc- odilians would have been able to hiber- nate, as our modern alligators do, during the winter months in the colder portions of its range, thus reducing their need for food for an extended period of time. Research indicates that a large crocodilian may be able to live for up to 2 years without eating. Climatic changes, such as the ice ages, shrank the ranges and greatly reduced the number of species of crocodilians. They are now found only in the tropic and subtropic regions of the world. The populations of the remaining species were greatly reduced by a burgeoning human popula- tion, which led to competition for habitat Young crocodiles are precocial, or capable of a high level of independence from birth, and are not fed by their mothers. They are nourished for a while after hatching by the remnants of the egg yolk in their stomachs. They soon learn to feed upon insects and the small minnows that abound in the warm water of the swamp. The American crocodile receives complete protection as an endangered species in the United States, although it is still hunted for its skin in some of the Caribbean areas in which it is found.

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