Eusuchia
| Eusuchia Temporal range: Early Cretaceous - Recent,
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|---|---|
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| Three species of living eusuchian: Gharial (left), American Alligator (center), and American Crocodile (right). | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Clade: | Neosuchia |
| Clade: | Eusuchia Huxley, 1875 |
| Orders | |
Eusuchia ("true crocodiles") is a clade of crocodylomorphs that first appears in the Early Cretaceous with Hylaeochampsa.[1] All living crocodilian species are eusuchians, as are many extinct forms.
Description
Unlike primitive crocodylomorphs, crocodyliforms have a secondary bony palate. This feature enables living crocodylians to safely breathe in through their nostrils while the rest of the head (including the mouth) remains submerged. This structure reaches its greatest elaboration among eusuchians, in whom the internal nares are completely surrounded by the pterygoid bones.
Phylogeny
Cladogram after Pol, Turner and Norell, 2009:[2]
Below is a cladogram after Puértolas, Canudo and Cruzado-Caballero, 2011:[3]
References
- ^ Benton, Michael J.; Sibbick, John (2000). Vertebrate Palaeontology. Blackwell Publishing. p. 233. ISBN 0-632-05614-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Morphology of the late Cretaceous crocodylomorph Shamosuchus djadochtaensis and a discussion of neosuchian phylogeny as related to the origin of Eusuchia" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 324: 103 pp. 2009.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ "A New Crocodylian from the Late Maastrichtian of Spain: Implications for the Initial Radiation of Crocodyloids". PLoS ONE. 6 (6): e20011. 2011. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020011.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
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