Crocodylinae Explained

Crocodylinae is a subfamily of true crocodiles within the family Crocodylidae, and is the sister taxon to Osteolaeminae (dwarf crocodiles and slender-snouted crocodiles).

Taxonomy

Crocodylinae was cladistically defined by Christopher Brochu in 1999 as Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile crocodile) and all crocodylians more closely related to it than to Osteolaemus tetraspis (the Dwarf crocodile).[1] This is a stem-based definition, and is the sister taxon to Osteolaeminae.

Crocodylinae contains the extant genus Crocodylus. It is disputed as to whether is also includes Mecistops (slender-snouted crocodiles),[2] [3] or the extinct genus Voay.[4]

Phylogeny

Some morphological studies have recovered Mecistops as a basal member of Crocodylinae, more closely related to Crocodylus than to Osteolaemus and the other members of Osteolaeminae,[5] [6] as shown in the cladogram below.[3]

The below cladogram is based on a 2021 study using paleogenomics that extracted DNA from the extinct Voay, recovering it as a member of Crocodylinae.[4]

Species list

Crocodylinae contains 13-14 extant species and 6 extinct species.

Notes and References

  1. Brochu . C. A. . Storrs . G. W. . 10.1080/02724634.2012.652324 . A giant crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene of Kenya, the phylogenetic relationships of Neogene African crocodylines, and the antiquity of Crocodylus in Africa . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 32 . 3 . 587–602 . 2012 . 2012JVPal..32..587B . 85103427 .
  2. Rio . Jonathan P. . Mannion . Philip D. . 6 September 2021 . Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem . . 9 . e12094 . 10.7717/peerj.12094 . 34567843 . 8428266 . free.
  3. Azarra . Beatrice . Boschian . Giovanni . Brochu . Christopher . Delfino . Massimo . Iurino . Dawid Adam . Kimambo . Jackson Stanley . Manzi . Giorgio . Masao . Fidelis T. . Menconero . Sofia . Njau . Jackson K . Cherin . Marco . 2021 . A new cranium of Crocodylus anthropophagus from Olduvai Gorge, northern Tanzania . Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia (Research in Paleontology and Stratigraphy) . 127 . 2 . 275–295 . 10.13130/2039-4942/15771 .
  4. Hekkala . E. . Gatesy . J. . Narechania . A. . Meredith . R. . Russello . M. . Aardema . M. L. . Jensen . E. . Montanari . S. . Brochu . C. . Norell . M. . Amato . G. . 2021-04-27 . Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene "horned" crocodile of Madagascar, Voay robustus . Communications Biology . en . 4 . 1 . 505 . 10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0 . 33907305 . 8079395 . 2399-3642 . free.
  5. Rio . Jonathan P. . Mannion . Philip D. . 6 September 2021 . Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem . . 9 . e12094 . 10.7717/peerj.12094 . 34567843 . 8428266 . free.
  6. Azarra . Beatrice . Boschian . Giovanni . Brochu . Christopher . Delfino . Massimo . Iurino . Dawid Adam . Kimambo . Jackson Stanley . Manzi . Giorgio . Masao . Fidelis T. . Menconero . Sofia . Njau . Jackson K . Cherin . Marco . 2021 . A new cranium of Crocodylus anthropophagus from Olduvai Gorge, northern Tanzania . Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia (Research in Paleontology and Stratigraphy) . 127 . 2 . 275–295 . 10.13130/2039-4942/15771 .
  7. Web site: Species | the Reptile Database.

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