Protocaiman

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Protocaiman
Temporal range: Paleocene, 66–61.6  Ma [1]
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Protocaiman skull.jpg
Holotype skull
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Archosauriformes
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Alligatoridae
Subfamily: Caimaninae
Genus: Protocaiman
Bona et al., 2018
Species:
P. peligrensis
Binomial name
Protocaiman peligrensis
Bona et al., 2018

Protocaiman is a caimanine genus of crocodylian first described in 2018. The type species Protocaiman peligrensis was discovered in Argentina's Salamanca Formation, and lived in Patagonia during the Paleocene epoch. [2] The holotype is specimen MLP 80-X-10-1, which is a partial skull. [3]

References

  1. 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.
  2. Bona, Paula; Ezcurra, Martín D.; Barrios, Francisco; Blanco, María V. Fernandez (2018-08-29). "A new Palaeocene crocodylian from southern Argentina sheds light on the early history of caimanines". Proc. R. Soc. B. 285 (1885): 20180843. doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.0843. ISSN   0962-8452. PMC   6125902 . PMID   30135152.
  3. Bona, Paula; Ezcurra, Martín D.; Barrios, Francisco; Fernandez Blanco, María V. (August 29, 2018). "A new Palaeocene crocodylian from southern Argentina sheds light on the early history of caimanines". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285 (1885): 20180843. doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.0843. PMC   6125902 . PMID   30135152.