Learning Center What is a mineral?The most common minerals on earth Information for Educators Mindat Articles The Elements The Rock H. Currier Digital Library Geologic Time

Minerals by Properties Minerals by Chemistry Advanced Locality Search Random Mineral Random Locality Search by minID Localities Near Me Search Articles Search Glossary More Search Options

The Mindat Manual Add a New Photo Rate Photos Locality Edit Report Coordinate Completion Report Add Glossary Item

Mining Companies Statistics Users Mineral Museums Clubs & Organizations Mineral Shows & Events The Mindat Directory Device Settings The Mineral Quiz

Photo Search Photo Galleries Search by Color New Photos Today New Photos Yesterday Members' Photo Galleries Past Photo of the Day Gallery Photography

BETA TEST - Fossil data and pages are very much experimental and under development. Please report any problems

Alligatoroidea

Photos

Photo Gallery

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	Not linked to a GBIF record.
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	53187	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=53187

Rank

superfamily (PBDB)

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Crocodylia : Alligatoroidea

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Sauropsida	Huxley 1864
class	Reptilia	Laurenti 1768
subclass	Eureptilia
-	Romeriida	Gauthier et al. 1988
-	Diapsida
-	Eosuchia
-	Neodiapsida	Benton 1985
-	Sauria	Gauthier 1984
-	Archosauromorpha
-	Crocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
-	Eucrocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauria
-	Pseudosuchia
-	Suchia	Krebs 1974
-	Paracrocodylomorpha	Parrish 1993
-	Loricata
-	Crocodylomorpha
suborder	Crocodyliformes	Hay 1930
-	Mesoeucrocodylia	Whetstone and Whybrow 1983
-	Neosuchia	Clark 1988
suborder	Eusuchia	Huxley 1875
-	Crocodylia
-	Brevirostres	Cuvier
superfamily	Alligatoroidea	Gray 1844

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Alligatoroidea	unranked clade	belongs to Crocodylia	stated with evidence	Norell et al., 1994
Alligatoroidea	unranked clade	belongs to Eusuchia	stated without evidence	Williamson, 1996
Alligatoroidea	unranked clade	belongs to Brevirostres	stated with evidence	Brochu, 1999
Alligatoroidea	superfamily	belongs to Eusuchia	stated without evidence	Astibia et al., 2000
Alligatoroidea	unranked clade	belongs to Brevirostres	stated with evidence	Salisbury et al., 2006
Alligatoroidea	superfamily	belongs to Crocodylia	implied	Böhme, 2008
Alligatoroidea	unranked clade	belongs to Crocodylia	stated with evidence	Brochu et al., 2009
Alligatoroidea	superfamily	belongs to Eusuchia	stated without evidence	Martin et al., 2010
Alligatoroidea	superfamily	belongs to Brevirostres	stated without evidence	Pinheiro et al., 2013
Alligatoroidea	superfamily	belongs to Brevirostres	stated with evidence	Farke et al., 2014

Status (PBDB)

extant

Taxon Size (PBDB)

146

Extant Size (PBDB)

19 (13%)

First Recorded Appearance

99.6 - 93.5 Ma
Late/Upper Cretaceous

Environment

marine (based on Mesoeucrocodylia)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

carnivore (based on Crocodylia)

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

T. E. Williamson. 1996. ?Brachychampsa sealeyi, sp. nov., (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Campanian) Menefee Formation, northwestern New Mexico\r\n. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16(3):421-431

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Diplocynodontidae family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)
Akanthosuchus ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	3	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	63.3 Ma Paleocene
Diplocynodon ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	106	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0.78 Ma Pleistocene
Diplocynodontinae unranked clade	listed (PBDB)
Globidonta unranked clade	listed (PBDB)	685	93.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1844	Alligatoroidea Gray
1874	Bottosaurus perrugosus Cope p. 26
1875	Bottosaurus perrugosus Cope p. 452
1902	Bottosaurus perrugosus Hay p. 514
1902	Bottosaurus perrugosus Lambe p. 48
1911	Brachychampsa perrugosa Gilmore p. 298
1965	Balanerodus Langston
1965	Balanerodus logimus Langston p. 114
1988	Balanerodus Carroll
1994	Alligatoroidea Norell et al. pp. 3-4
1996	Alligatoroidea Williamson p. 422

Year	Name and Author
1999	Alligatoroidea Brochu
2000	Alligatoroidea Astibia et al. p. 237
2006	Alligatoroidea Salisbury et al. p. 2444
2008	Alligatoroidea Böhme p. 169
2009	Alligatoroidea Brochu et al. p. 538
2010	Alligatoroidea Martin et al.
2010	Balanerodus Riff et al.
2010	Balanerodus logimus Riff et al.
2013	Alligatoroidea Pinheiro et al.
2014	Alligatoroidea Farke et al.
2020	Alligatoroidea de Silva Lacerda et al.

References

Williamson T. E. (1996) ?Brachychampsa sealeyi, sp. nov., (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Campanian) Menefee Formation, northwestern New Mexico

Cope E. D. Review of the Vertebrata of the Cretaceous Period found west of the Mississippi River, Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, First Series 2, 3-48

Cope E. D. Report on the vertebrate paleontology of Colorado, Annual Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories 1873, 427-533

Hay O. P. (1902) , Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey 179, 1-868

Lambe L. M. (1902) New genera and species from the Belly River Series (mid-Cretaceous), Geological Survey of Canada Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology 3 2, 25-81

Gilmore C. W. (1911) A new fossil alligator from the Hell Creek Beds of Montana, Proceedings of the United States National Museum 41 1860, 297-302

Langston W. (1965) Fossil crocodilians from Colombia and the Cenozoic history of the Crocodilia in South America, University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 52, 1-169

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698

Norell M. A., Clark J. M., et al (1994) The Late Cretaceous alligatoroid Brachychampsa montana (Crocodylia): new material and putative relationships, American Museum Novitates 3116, 1-26

Brochu C. A. (1999) Phylogenetics, Taxonomy, and Historical Biogeography of Alligatoroidea, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19 S2, 9-100

Astibia H., Aranburu A., et al (2000) Un nouveau site à vertébrés continentaux de l'Éocène supérieur de Zambrana (Bassin de Maranda-Treviño, Alava, Pays basque), Géobios 32 2, 233-248

Salisbury S. W., Molnar R. E., et al (2006) The origin of modern crocodyliforms: new evidence from the Cretaceous of Australia, Proceedings of the Royal Society B 273, 2439-2448 doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3613

Böhme M. (2008) Ectothermic vertebrates (Teleostei, Allocaudata, Urodela, Anura, Testudines, Choristodera, Crocodylia, Squamata) from the Upper Oligocene of Oberleichtersbach (Northern Bavaria, Germany), Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 260, 161-183

Martin J. E., Rabi M., et al (2010) Survival of Theriosuchus (Mesoeucrocodylia: Atoposauridae) in a Late Cretaceous archipelago: a new species from the Maastrichtian of Romania, Naturwissenschaften 97, 845-854 doi:10.1007/s00114-010-0702-y

Riff D., Romano P. S., et al (2010) Neogene crocodile and turtle fauna in northern South America, Amazonia: Landscape and Species Evolution: A look into the past, 259-280

Pinheiro A. E. P., Fortier D. C., et al (2013) A new Eocaiman (Alligatoridae, Crocodylia) from the Itaborai Basin, Paleogene of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Historical Biology 25 3, 327-337 doi:10.1080/08912963.2012.705838

Farke A. A., Henn M. M., et al (2014) Leidyosuchus (Crocodylia: Alligatoroidea) from the Upper Cretaceous Kaiporowits Formation (Late Campanian) of Utah, USA, PaleoBios 30 3, 72-88

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

Quick NavTop Subtaxa Synonymy List References

Mindat.org is an outreach project of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2024, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: April 28, 2024 11:11:01

Go to top of page