My, what big teeth you had

Never smile at a crocodile,
No, you can't get friendly with a crocodile,
Don't be taken in by his welcome grin,
He's imagining how well you'd fit within his skin.

So sang Mary Louise as she rode on the back of a frog-eating crocodile in episode 114 of "The Muppets". Wise words; best to give all crocodyliforms (a term covering all crocodile-like creatures both extant and extinct) a wide berth, unless you're fixing for trouble. Nevertheless, as do all creatures great and small, crocodylia attest to the genius and power of God. Stop and think; if He considered them worth designing and creating, the least we can do is to admire their superb form and captivating lifestyles. Anybody who has watched David Attenborough's footage of "big daddy" crocs delicately and tenderly helping their hatching young make it safely into our big bad world knows that there's a lot more to these powerful beasts than just sinister grins, crushing teeth and a viselike bite.

But you know something; our 23 living species are bit players in the crocodyliform drama that has played out over the past 240 million years, beginning at roughly the same time that dinosaurs were created. Taking the presence of a row of bony plates along the back as the defining characteristic of crocodylia, paleontologists have catalogued a remarkable crocodile bestiary. Hundreds of extinct species are known to have plied the seascape and walked or even galloped across the landscape during that time. Recent discoveries of remains of some truly bizarre species in North Africa have focused considerable attention on this uncuddly but fascinating dynasty. Living species give little clue to the enormous variety of size, shape and lifestyle of their kind that have gone before - from species the size of a small dog to the granddaddy of them all, Sarcosuchus (see below), from lanky-legged gallopers to squat lurkers, from tuber-grubbing plant-eaters to dinosaur-ambushers. The variety is truly astounding.

Some of the most bizarre forms have been discovered in the Sahara since the 1990s. Found by dino-hunter extraordinaire, Paul Sereno, and his team, these crocs have been given cute nicknames - BoarCroc, RatCroc, DogCroc, DuckCroc and PancakeCroc. Some resembled mammals, with erect limbs for fleet-footed pursuit of prey on land, while others were more croc-like overall. DuckCroc (above) sported a duck-like snout (who would have guessed?) and

had hook-shaped teeth which suggest it snaffled small fish or worms in shallow water. DogCroc had long legs, presumably enabling it to escape predators by half-galloping, half-skipping at high speed. The 20-foot-long BoarCroc probably hunted dinosaurs, ramming them with its armored snout before slicing into their flesh with three sets of formidable fangs. Though found in North Africa, now situated well north of the Equator, these creatures were actually southern hemisphere inhabitants. At the time they graced our planet - about 110 million years ago - Africa was joined up with today's southern continents in a huge landmass known as Gondwana.

As with dinosaurs and almost all other groups of animals, the different species did not all live at the same time. Different kinds came and went over the course of millions of years. Not due to mutations and natural selection, but by the grace of God. In spite of all the hubris coming from evolutionary circles, the simple fact is that evolution theory is incapable of explaining the origin of species. Within the constraints imposed by the limited size and resources of our planet, not even God could populate earth at the one moment in time with every creature He could devise. But over millions of years He has shown us His boundless ingenuity and powers of innovation by presenting an ever-changing parade of creatures based on various sets of body plans, of which crocodylia is one.

Living crocodile species are small in number and generally restricted in habitat to freshwater rivers, lakes, and swampy regions. (One or two species are found in salt water around the margins of land.) In the early days of crocodiles and dinosaurs, between 200 and 240 million years ago, crocodiles "ruled the roost", being found in all habitats, including the open sea and dry land, and having a wide diversity of forms, ranging from "slender, long-legged animals something like wolves to huge, fearsome predators at the top of the food chain" (When Crocs Ruled, National Geographic, November, 2009). Dinosaurs were smaller in size, reduced in number, and restricted to specialized habitats. About 200 million years ago the tables began to turn.

Amazing stuff indeed! All the credit must go to the One who thought it all through and made it happen - the father of all mankind, the Holy One of Israel, and the Father of Jesus Christ - by whose express will and creative power "we live and move and have our being". May we give Him the reverence He deserves.