Biology:Crocodylinae

Short description: Subfamily of crocodiles

Crocodylinae Temporal range: Eocene–Holocene, 38–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauromorpha
Clade:	Archosauriformes
Order:	Crocodilia
Family:	Crocodylidae
Subfamily:	Crocodylinae Cuvier, 1807
Type species
Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, 1768
Genera
Crocodylus Mecistops? †Aldabrachampsus? †Voay

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). 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), or the extinct genus Voay.

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, as shown in the cladogram below.

Crocodylidae	Osteolaeminae   Rimasuchus lloydi†       Voay robustus†       Osteolaemus osborni Osborn’s dwarf crocodile     Osteolaemus tetraspis Dwarf crocodile           "Crocodylus" gariepensis†         Brochuchus parvidens†     Brochuchus pigotti†         Euthecodon arambourgi†     Euthecodon brumpti†           Crocodylinae   Mecistops cataphractus West African slender-snouted crocodile         Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni†     Crocodylus anthropophagus†         Crocodylus niloticus Nile crocodile       Crocodylus checchiai†     Crocodylus moreletii Morelet's crocodile     Crocodylus intermedius Orinoco crocodile     Crocodylus acutus American crocodile     Crocodylus rhombifer Cuban crocodile       Crocodylus palaeindicus†       Crocodylus palustris Mugger crocodile         Crocodylus ossifragus†     Crocodylus siamensis Siamese crocodile         Crocodylus mindorensis Philippine crocodile     Crocodylus johnstoni Freshwater crocodile     Crocodylus porosus Saltwater crocodile       Crocodylus raninus Borneo crocodile     Crocodylus novaeguineae New Guinea crocodile

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.

Crocodylidae

Osteolaeminae     Mecistops cataphractus West African slender-snouted crocodile     Euthecodon†         Brochuchus†       Rimasuchus†       Osteolaemus osborni Osborn’s dwarf crocodile     Osteolaemus tetraspis Dwarf crocodile           Crocodylinae   Voay†   Crocodylus       Crocodylus anthropophagus†     Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni†         Crocodylus palaeindicus†     Crocodylus Tirari Desert†               Crocodylus johnstoni Freshwater crocodile       Crocodylus novaeguineae New Guinea crocodile     Crocodylus mindorensis Philippine crocodile           Crocodylus porosus Saltwater crocodile       Crocodylus siamensis Siamese crocodile     Crocodylus palustris Mugger crocodile               Crocodylus checchiai†     Crocodylus falconensis†         Crocodylus suchus West African crocodile       Crocodylus niloticus Nile crocodile         Crocodylus moreletii Morelet's crocodile     Crocodylus rhombifer Cuban crocodile         Crocodylus intermedius Orinoco crocodile     Crocodylus acutus American crocodile

(crown group)

Species list

American crocodile at La Manzanilla, Jalisco, Mexico

A skull of the extinct Voay robustus

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

• Subfamily Crocodylinae
  • Genus Crocodylus
    • Crocodylus acutus, American crocodile
    • Crocodylus halli, Hall's New Guinea crocodile
    • Crocodylus intermedius, Orinoco crocodile
    • Crocodylus johnstoni, Freshwater crocodile, or Johnstone's crocodile
    • Crocodylus mindorensis, Philippine crocodile
    • Crocodylus moreletii, Morelet's crocodile or Mexican crocodile
    • Crocodylus niloticus, Nile crocodile
    • Crocodylus novaeguineae, New Guinea crocodile
    • Crocodylus palustris, mugger, marsh or Indian crocodile
    • Crocodylus porosus, Saltwater crocodile or Estuarine crocodile
      • Crocodylus raninus, Borneo crocodile, is currently considered to be a synonym of Crocodylus porosus; whether or not it is a distinct species remains unclear.
    • Crocodylus rhombifer, Cuban crocodile
    • Crocodylus siamensis, Siamese crocodile
    • Crocodylus suchus, West African crocodile, desert or sacred crocodile
    • Crocodylus anthropophagus†
    • Crocodylus checchiai†
    • Crocodylus falconensis†
    • Crocodylus palaeindicus†
    • Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni†
  • Genus Voay†
    • Voay robustus† (formerly Crocodylus robustus)

References

Wikidata ☰ Q107395048 entry