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Alligatoroidea

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rjwilmsi (talk | contribs) at 22:01, 30 July 2011 (10.1146/annurev.earth.31.100901.141308). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Alligatoroidea
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous to Recent
Alligators (shown above) and caimans are living members of the superfamily Alligatoroidea.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Archosauriformes
Order: Crocodilia
Superfamily: Alligatoroidea
Gray, 1844
Families

Alligatoroidea is a superfamily of crocodilians that evolved in the Late Cretaceous period. Cladistically, it is defined as Alligator mississippiensis (the American alligator) and all crocodylians more closely related to A. mississippiensis than to either Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile crocodile) or Gavialis gangeticus (the gharial).[1]

References

  1. ^ Brochu, Christopher A. (2003). "Phylogenetic approaches toward crocodylian history". Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 31: 360. doi:10.1146/annurev.earth.31.100901.141308. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)