The crocodiles have been on Earth longer than dinosaurs.

[tufguy]

The crocodiles have been on Earth longer than dinosaurs. (They were here when dinosaurs weren't here. They came into existence before dinosaurs and are still here)

Please check my sentence.

 

[Rover_KE]

Delete the first 'The'.

 

[queeniech]

The crocodile has been on Earth longer than the dinosaur.

Is the above sentence correct?

 

[Rover_KE]

It's grammatical.

(Not a palaeontologist)

I suppose it should be

Crocodiles have been on Earth longer than dinosaurs were.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Crocodiles have been on earth longer than dinosaurs" suggests that dinosaurs are still here. Rover's addition of "were" at the end makes it clear that dinosaurs are no longer around.

Given that most people are aware that crocodiles still exist but dinosaurs don't, you could say "Crocodiles existed before dinosaurs".