"They look like dinosaurs!" I screamed, gaping at live crocodiles for the first time with my brother, Jaypee. This was Manila Zoo in the 1900s and to pint-sized kids, 14-foot crocodiles seemed giant, ancient and utterly invincible. Two decades later, I found myself beside the world's largest captive crocodile, old Lolong, in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. As a team from the Department of Science and Technology measured him, I realized that crocodiles actually lived way before many dinosaurs-evolving in the Mesozoic epoch to stalk juvenile Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus rex and others foolish enough to get waylaid by the water's edge.

Yan, G. (2013, February 17). Where there are crocs, there will always be fish. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A15.