The Bizarrely Porous Chinese Alligator Skull

These are the dragonesque jaws of a Chinese Alligator. What’s that bumpy, strikingly porous texture on the bone? Since this texture is a feature that has convergently evolved time and again – especially in snappy swamp things – its potential benefit is an area of ongoing research. Blood vessels would have passed through many of the holes, potentially helping to regulate the animal’s body temperature. The bone may protect those vessels from damage by prey during the act of feeding. And it would do this without adding a lot of weight, very helpful to floating at the water’s surface while you bask in the sun. This skull is one among over 44,000 specimens stewarded by Curator of Vertebrate Zoology Krista Fahy, PhD, at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in the Museum’s Department of Vertebrate Zoology.