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][2] 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,[2][3] as shown in the cladogram below.[3]
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
Paleoafrican Crocodylus
Neotropical Crocodylus
Indo-Pacific Crocodylus
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]
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
Crocodylinae contains 13-14 extant species and 6 extinct species.
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Subfamily Crocodylinae
- Genus Crocodylus
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Crocodylus acutus, American crocodile
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Crocodylus halli, Hall's New Guinea crocodile
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Crocodylus intermedius, Orinoco crocodile
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Crocodylus johnstoni, Freshwater crocodile, or Johnstone's crocodile
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Crocodylus mindorensis, Philippine crocodile
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Crocodylus moreletii, Morelet's crocodile or Mexican crocodile
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Crocodylus niloticus, Nile crocodile
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Crocodylus novaeguineae, New Guinea crocodile
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Crocodylus palustris, mugger, marsh or Indian crocodile
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Crocodylus porosus, Saltwater crocodile or Estuarine crocodile
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Crocodylus raninus, Borneo crocodile, is currently considered to be a synonym of Crocodylus porosus; whether or not it is a distinct species remains unclear.[5]
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Crocodylus rhombifer, Cuban crocodile
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Crocodylus siamensis, Siamese crocodile
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Crocodylus suchus, West African crocodile, desert or sacred crocodile
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Crocodylus anthropophagus†
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Crocodylus checchiai†
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Crocodylus falconensis†
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Crocodylus palaeindicus†
-
Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni†
- Genus Voay†
References
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^ Brochu, C. A.; Storrs, G. W. (2012). "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. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.652324. S2CID 85103427.
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^ a b c 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". PeerJ. 9: e12094. doi:10.7717/peerj.12094. PMC 8428266. PMID 34567843.
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^ a b c 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. doi:10.13130/2039-4942/15771.
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^ a b 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. 4 (1): 505. doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 8079395. PMID 33907305.
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^ "Species | the Reptile Database".
