Crocodile

Crocodiles survived the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs - not because they were superior, but because they were suited to catastrophe. As ectothermic reptiles with metabolisms running at 10% the rate of similar-sized mammals, crocodiles need remarkably little food. When the K-Pg impact 66 million years ago triggered prolonged food scarcity, cold-blooded survivors with low metabolic demands outlasted their warm-blooded competitors. The dinosaurs starved; the crocodiles waited.

This is fitness redefined by context. In the pre-impact Cretaceous, endothermic dinosaurs dominated through activity, range, and intelligence. Crocodiles were niche players - ambush predators locked to water. But when the asteroid struck and resources collapsed, evolutionary 'fitness' inverted overnight. The traits that made dinosaurs dominant (high metabolism, constant activity) became fatal liabilities. The traits that made crocodiles marginal (low metabolism, tolerance for inactivity) became survival advantages.

Today, crocodiles still demonstrate this strategy at African river crossings, where they kill thousands of migrating wildebeest annually. They don't chase; they wait. For business, the crocodile teaches that competitive advantage is always conditional. What makes you dominant in boom times can kill you in scarcity. Survival isn't about being the best - it's about matching your metabolic demands to environmental reality.