Dune June 3: Sunbathing

As apex predators, crocodilians might seem like an unlikely group to survive a mass extinction. Yet they have done so, again and again. The mass extinction at the end of the Cenozoic was no different. Indeed, with so many large mammal predators now extinct, crocodilians actually found themselves experiencing something of a renaissance, free to move into new niches and habitats that they could not before. One of the strangest of these was the Brown Slurpasaur (Istiosuchus cinematicus), an inhabitant of the deserts of Argentina. Appropriately named after the fake "dinosaurs" in 1950s B-movies, which were often lizards and crocodiles with horns and crests glued on, this member of the alligator family has a unique method of keeping warm in its harsh home climate. The three-foot-tall ridge on its back is not merely for display; it functions as a heat absorber. When the sun rises, the animal spends the morning basking and absorbing as much heat as it can, with the ridge maximizing the surface area that is exposed to the sun. Once it has warmed up, it can be active even in temperatures that would otherwise be too cold for it.