Crocodylidae

American crocodile Crocodylus acutus, photographed by Tomascastelazo.

Belongs within: Neosuchia.

The family Crocodylidae includes the crocodiles Crocodylus and their closest fossil relatives. The false gharial Tomistoma schlegelii may also be a member of this group, though its phylogenetic position has been open to debate. Members of this family have relatively narrow, elongate heads. The largest living species, the saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus, may reach lengths of well over six metres. Other species may be considerably smaller; the Australian freshwater crocodile C. johnstoni, for instance, is usually less than two metres in length.

<==Crocodylidae
    |--Rhamphosuchus SL01
    |--Euthecodon PS01
    |    |--E. arambourgi Ginsburg & Buffetaut 1978 LA04
    |    |--E. brumpti Joleaud 1920 LA04
    |    `--E. nitriae Fourtau 1920 LA04
    `--Crocodylus MA04
         |  i. s.: C. affinis C77
         |         C. chamensis Cope 1874 C77
         |         C. elliottii C77
         |         C. grypus Cope 1875 C77
         |         C. heterodon C77
         |         C. liodon Marsh 1871 C77
         |         C. megarhinus SF03
         |         C. (Botosaurus) selaslophensis Etheridge 1917 F71
         |         C. wheelerii Cope 1875 C77
         |--+--C. johnstoni B81, SWS14
         |  `--+--C. porosus B81
         |     `--+--C. palustris B81
         |        |    |--C. p. palustris USDI77
         |        |    `--C. p. kimbula USDI77
         |        `--+--C. novaeguineae B81
         |           |    |--C. n. novaeguineae USDI77
         |           |    `--C. n. mindorensis USDI77
         |           `--C. siamensis B81
         `--+--+--C. cataphractus B81
            |  `--C. niloticus Laurenti 1768 B81, MA04
            `--+--+--C. acutus B81
               |  `--C. rhombifer B81
               `--+--C. intermedius B81
                  `--C. moreletii B81

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B81] Brooks, D. R. 1981. Hennig's parasitological method: a proposed solution. Systematic Zoology 30 (3): 229–249.

[C77] Cope, E. D. 1877. Report upon the extinct Vertebrata obtained in New Mexico by parties of the expedition of 1874. Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian 4 (2): i–iv, 1–370.

[F71] Fletcher, H. O. 1971. Catalogue of type specimens of fossils in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian Museum Memoir 13: 1–167.

[LA04] Llinás Agrasar, E. 2004. Crocodile remains from the Burdigalian (lower Miocene) of Gebel Zelten (Libya). Geodiversitas 26 (2): 309–321.

[MA04] Modesto, S. P., & J. S. Anderson. 2004. The phylogenetic definition of Reptilia. Systematic Biology 53 (5): 815–821.

[PS01] Pickford, M., & B. Senut. 2001. The geological and faunal context of Late Miocene hominid remains from Lukeino, Kenya. Comptes Rendus de L’Academie des Sciences—Series IIA—Earth and Planetary Sciences 332: 145–152.

[SF03] Salisbury, S. W., E. Frey, D. M. Martill & M. C. Buchy. 2003. A new crocodilian from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formatioin of north-eastern Brazil. Palaeontographica Abteilung A: Paläozoologie—Stratigraphie 270: 3–47.

[SL01] Sereno, P. C., H. C. E. Larsson, C. A. Sidor & B. Gado. 2001. The giant crocodyliform Sarcosuchus from the Cretaceous of Africa. Science 294: 1516–1519.

[SWS14] Somaweera, R., D. Woods & T. Sonneman. 2014. A note on the Australian freshwater crocodiles inhabiting Tunnel Creek cave, West Kimberley. Records of the Western Australian Museum 29 (1): 82–87.

[USDI77] USDI (United States Department of the Interior). 1977. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants—republication of list of species. Federal Register 42: 36420–36431.

Last updated: 6 April 2017.