Alligatoroidea

Alligatoroidea is a superfamily of crocodilians that evolved in the Late Cretaceous period. Cladistically, Alligatoroidea is 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]

Alligatoroidea Temporal range: Late Cretaceous - Recent, 83.5–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Alligators (shown above) and caimans are living members of the superfamily Alligatoroidea.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Crocodilia
Clade:	Brevirostres
Superfamily:	Alligatoroidea Gray, 1844
Subgroups
Globidonta †Diplocynodontinae †Deinosuchus †Listrognathosuchus †Leidyosuchus †Protoalligator †Tadzhikosuchus

Taxonomy

An alligator nest at Everglades National Park, Florida, United States

A. olseni fore limb

Alligator prenasalis fossil

• Superfamily Alligatoroidea
  • Family Alligatoridae
    • Subfamily Alligatorinae
      • Genus † Albertochampsa
      • Genus Alligator
        • † Alligator mcgrewi
        • † Alligator mefferdi
        • American alligator, Alligator mississippiensis
        • † Alligator olseni
        • † Alligator prenasalis
        • Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis
      • Genus † Allognathosuchus
      • Genus † Arambourgia
      • Genus † Ceratosuchus
      • Genus † Chrysochampsa
      • Genus † Eoalligator
      • Genus † Hassiacosuchus
      • Genus † Hispanochampsa
      • Genus † Krabisuchus
      • Genus † Navajosuchus
      • Genus † Procaimanoidea
      • Genus † Wannaganosuchus
    • Subfamily Caimaninae
      • Genus Caiman
        • Yacare caiman, Caiman yacare
        • Spectacled caiman, Caiman crocodilus
          • Rio Apaporis caiman, C. c. apaporiensis
          • Brown caiman, C. c. fuscus
        • Broad-snouted caiman, Caiman latirostris
        • † Caiman lutescans
      • Genus Melanosuchus
        • † Melanosuchus fisheri
        • Black caiman, Melanosuchus niger
      • Genus † Eocaiman
      • Genus † Mourasuchus
      • Genus † Necrosuchus
      • Genus † Orthogenysuchus
      • Genus Paleosuchus
        • Cuvier's dwarf caiman, Paleosuchus palpebrosus
        • Smooth-fronted caiman, Paleosuchus trigonatus
      • Genus † Purussaurus

References

1. Brochu, Christopher A. (May 2003). "Phylogenetic approaches toward crocodylian history". Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 31: 360. doi:10.1146/annurev.earth.31.100901.141308.