| Crocodylus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mugger crocodile (C. palustris) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Clade: | Archosauriformes |
| Order: | Crocodilia |
| Family: | Crocodylidae |
| Subfamily: | Crocodylinae |
| Genus: | Crocodylus Laurenti, 1768 |
| Type species | |
| Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, 1768 | |
| Species | |
See text | |
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| Worldwide distribution of Crocodylus | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
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Crocodylus is a genus of true crocodiles in the family Crocodylidae.
The generic name, Crocodylus, was proposed by Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in 1768. [2] Crocodylus contains 13–14 extant (living) species and 5 extinct species. There are additional extinct species attributed to the genus Crocodylus that studies have shown no longer belong, although they have not yet been reassigned to new genera. [3]
The 13–14 living species are:
| Image | Scientific name | Taxon authority | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Crocodylus acutus | (Cuvier, 1807) | American crocodile | Southern Florida and the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of north Mexico to North America as far south as Peru and Venezuela, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Grand Cayman. |
| Crocodylus halli [4] | Murray, Russo, Zorrilla & McMahan, 2019 | Hall's crocodile | southern New Guinea | |
 | Crocodylus intermedius | (Graves, 1819) | Orinoco crocodile | Colombia and Venezuela |
 | Crocodylus johnstoni | Krefft, 1873 | Freshwater crocodile | Northern regions of Australia |
 | Crocodylus mindorensis | Schmidt, 1935 | Philippine crocodile | Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park within the Luzon rainforest, San Mariano, Isabela, Dalupiri island in the Babuyan Islands, Abra (province) in Luzon and the Ligawasan Marsh, Lake Sebu in South Cotabato, Pulangi River in Bukidnon, and possibly in the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Mindanao |
 | Crocodylus moreletii | (A. H. A. Duméril & Bibron, 1851) | Morelet's crocodile or Mexican crocodile | Mexico, Belize and Guatemala |
 | Crocodylus niloticus | Laurenti, 1768 | Nile crocodile or African crocodile, (the subspecies found in Madagascar, C. n. madagascariensis, is sometimes called the black crocodile) | Israel and Syria (historically), Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gabon, Angola, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Sudan, South Sudan, Botswana, and Cameroon |
 | Crocodylus novaeguineae | Schmidt, 1928 | New Guinea crocodile | northern New Guinea |
 | Crocodylus palustris | (Lesson, 1831) | Mugger crocodile, marsh crocodile, or Indian crocodile | southern Iran, southern Pakistan, southern Nepal, India, Sri Lanka |
 | Crocodylus porosus | Schneider, 1801 | Saltwater crocodile or estuarine crocodile | Eastern India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and Northern Australia |
 | Crocodylus rhombifer | (Cuvier, 1807) | Cuban crocodile | Cuba |
 | Crocodylus siamensis | Schneider, 1801 | Siamese crocodile | Indonesia (Borneo and possibly Java), Brunei, East Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. |
 | Crocodylus suchus | Geoffroy, 1807 | West African crocodile or desert crocodile | Mauritania, Benin, Liberia, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Gabon, Togo, Ivory Coast and Republic of Congo |
| Crocodylus raninus (Considered to be a synonym of Crocodylus porosus; its status remains unclear). [5] | S. Müller & Schlegel, 1844 | Borneo crocodile | Borneo | |
Crocodylus also includes five extinct species: [3]
Crocodylus likely originated in Africa and radiated outwards towards Southeast Asia and the Americas, [6] although an Australia/Asia origin has also been considered. [7] Phylogenetic evidence supports Crocodylus diverging from its closest recent relative, the extinct Voay of Madagascar, around 25 million years ago, near the Oligocene/Miocene boundary. [6]
A 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data established the inter-relationships within Crocodylidae. [8] In 2021, Hekkala et al. were able to use paleogenomics, extracting DNA from the extinct Voay , to better establish the relationships within Crocodylidae, including the subfamilies Crocodylinae and Osteolaeminae. [6]
The below cladogram shows the results of the latest study:
| Crocodylidae |
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| (crown group) |
Crocodylinae is a subfamily of true crocodiles within the family Crocodylidae, and is the sister taxon to Osteolaeminae.
Tomistoma is a genus of gavialid crocodilians. They are noted for their long narrow snouts used to catch fish, similar to the gharial. Tomistoma contains one extant (living) member, the false gharial, as well as potentially several extinct species: T. cairense, T. lusitanicum and T. coppensi. Previously assigned extinct species known from fossils are reclassified as different genera such as Eogavialis, Toyotamaphimeia and Sutekhsuchus.
Mecistops is a genus of crocodiles, the slender-snouted crocodiles, native to sub-Saharan Africa.
Gavialosuchus is an extinct genus of gavialoid crocodylian from the early Miocene of Europe. Currently only one species is recognized, as a few other species of Gavialosuchus have since been reclassified to other genera.
Brachyuranochampsa is an extinct genus of crocodilian.
Euthecodon is an extinct genus of long-snouted crocodile. It was common throughout much of Africa during the Neogene, with fossils being especially common in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Libya. Although superficially resembling that of gharials, the long snout was a trait developed independently from that of other crocodilians and suggests a diet of primarily fish. Euthecodon coexisted with a wide range of other crocodiles in the areas it inhabited before eventually going extinct during the Pleistocene.
Voay is an extinct genus of crocodile from Madagascar that lived during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene, containing only one species, V. robustus. Numerous subfossils have been found, including complete skulls, noted for their distinctive pair of horns on the posterior, as well as vertebrae and osteoderms from such places as Ambolisatra and Antsirabe. The genus is thought to have become extinct relatively recently. It has been suggested to have disappeared in the extinction event that wiped out much of the endemic megafauna on Madagascar, such as the elephant bird and Malagasy hippo, following the arrival of humans to Madagascar around 2000 years ago. Its name comes from the Malagasy word for crocodile.
Prodiplocynodon is an extinct genus of basal crocodyloid crocodylian. It is one of the only crocodyloids known from the Cretaceous and existed during the Maastrichtian stage. The only species of Prodiplocynodon is the type species P. langi from the Lance Formation of Wyoming, known only from a single holotype skull lacking the lower jaw.
Crocodyloidea is one of three superfamilies of crocodilians, the other two being Alligatoroidea and Gavialoidea, and it includes the crocodiles. Crocodyloidea may also include the extinct Mekosuchinae, native to Australasia from the Eocene to the Holocene, although this is disputed.
Rimasuchus is an extinct genus of crocodile from the Miocene of Egypt and possibly Libya. Only one species - Rimasuchus lloydi - is currently known. It was previously thought to be a species of Crocodylus, but is now thought to be more closely related to the modern African dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus).
Gavialoidea is one of three superfamilies of crocodylians, the other two being Alligatoroidea and Crocodyloidea. Although many extinct species are known, only the gharial Gavialis gangeticus and the false gharial Tomistoma schlegelii are alive today, with Hanyusuchus having become extinct in the last few centuries.
Tomistominae is a subfamily of crocodylians that includes one living species, the false gharial. Many more extinct species are known, extending the range of the subfamily back to the Eocene epoch. In contrast to the false gharial, which is a freshwater species that lives only in southeast Asia, extinct tomistomines had a global distribution and lived in estuaries and along coastlines.
Osteolaeminae is a subfamily of true crocodiles within the family Crocodylidae containing the dwarf crocodiles and slender-snouted crocodiles, and is the sister taxon to Crocodylinae.
"Crocodylus" affinis is an extinct species of crocodyloid from the Eocene of Wyoming. Fossils were first described from the Bridger Formation by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1871. Marsh described the species, along with every other species of crocodyloid in the Bridger Formation, under the genus Crocodylus. The known specimen of "Crocodylus" affinis is a skull found at Grizzly Buttes, Wyoming, measuring 13 inches in length on the upper surface. Recent phylogenetic studies of crocodyloids show that "C." affinis is not a species of Crocodylus, but a genus has not yet been erected to include the species. Other Bridger species such as Crocodylus clavis and Brachyuranochampsa zangerli have been synonymized with "C." affinis.
"Crocodylus" acer is an extinct species of crocodyloid from the Eocene of Utah. A single well preserved skull was described by paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1882 and remains the only known fossil of the species. It was found from the Wasatchian-age Green River Formation. "C." acer had a long, narrow snout and a low, flattened skull.
"Crocodylus" megarhinus is an extinct species of crocodile from the Eocene of Egypt. A partial skull was found by British paleontologist Charles William Andrews in the Fayum Depression. Andrews named Crocodylus megarhinus in 1905 on the basis of the holotype skull. A complete skull was also uncovered from Egypt in 1907 but was not recognized as "C." megarhinus until 1927.
Crocodylus palaeindicus is an extinct species of crocodile from southern Asia. C. palaeindicus lived from the Miocene to the Pliocene. It may be an ancestor of the living Mugger crocodile.
Crocodylus checchiai is an extinct species of crocodile from the Miocene to Pliocene of Libya and Kenya. C. checchiai was named in 1947 based on a skull from the Sahabi Formation. Remains from the lower Nawata Formation in the Turkana Basin of Kenya that were first attributed to the Nile crocodile have now been reassigned to C. checchiai, extending its geographic range. The morphology of the species, in particular the pronounced rostral boss, indicates that it may be the connecting link between African and American species of the genus Crocodylus.
Crocodylus falconensis is an extinct species of crocodile known from the early Pliocene of the lower part of the Vergel Member of the San Gregorio Formation of Venezuela. C. falconensis was named in 2013 after Falcón State and is thought to be the basalmost species of Crocodylus found in the Neotropics.
Longirostres is a clade of crocodilians that includes the crocodiles and the gavialids, to the exclusion of the alligatoroids. Defined in 2003 by Harshman et al., Longirostres is a crown group defined phylogenetically as including the last common ancestor of Crocodylus niloticus and Gavialis gangeticus and all of its descendants.
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