Crocodylus checchiai

Crocodylus checchiai is an extinct species of crocodile from the Pliocene of Libya and the Miocene of Kenya. C. checchiai was named in 1957 from the Sahabi Formation. It is similar in appearance to the Nile crocodile C. niloticus and may even be the same species. Remains from the lower Nawata Formation in the Turkana Basin of Kenya that were first attributed to the Nile crocodile have now been reassigned to C. checchiai, extending its geographic and temporal range.[1]

Crocodylus checchiai
Temporal range: Late Miocene - early Pliocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Crocodylidae
Genus: Crocodylus
Species:
C. checchiai
Binomial name
Crocodylus checchiai
Maccagno, 1948

C. checchiai is one of the oldest species of Crocodylus and is placed at the base of the crocodile radiation. It may be closely related to Neotropical crocodiles like the Orinoco crocodile, or to other African crocodiles like Crocodylus anthropophagus and Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni. Below is a cladogram from the phylogenetic analysis of Brochu and Storrs (2012), which places C. checchiai at the base of Crocodylus:[1]

 Crocodyloidea 

"Asiatosuchus" germanicus

Prodiplocynodon langi

Asiatosuchus grangeri

"Crocodylus" affinis

"Crocodylus" depressifrons

Brachyuranochampsa eversolei

"Crocodylus" acer

 Crocodylidae 
 Tomistominae 

Kentisuchus spenceri

Dollosuchoides densmorei

Megadontosuchus arduini

Gavialosuchus eggenburgensis

Toyotamaphimeia machikanensis

Tomistoma lusitanica

Tomistoma schlegelii

"Tomistoma" cairense

Thecachampsa antiqua

Thecachampsa americana

Thecachampsa carolinense

Penghusuchus pani

Paratomistoma courti

Maomingosuchus petrolica

 Crocodylinae 

"Crocodylus" megarhinus

 Mekosuchinae 

Kambara implexidens

Australosuchus clarkae

Trilophosuchus rackhami

Quinkana

"Crocodylus" pigotti

"Crocodylus" gariepensis

Euthecodon arambourgii

Euthecodon brumpti

 Osteolaeminae 

Rimasuchus lloydi

Voay robustus

Osteolaemus osborni

Osteolaemus tetraspis

Mecistops cataphractus

 Crocodylus 

Crocodylus checchiai

C. palaeindicus

C. anthropophagus

C. thorbjarnarsoni

C. niloticus

C. siamensis

C. palustris

C. porosus

C. johnsoni

C. mindorensis

C. novaeguineae

C. raninus

C. acutus

C. intermedius

C. rhombifer

C. moreletii

References

  1. Brochu, C. A.; Storrs, G. W. (2012). "A giant crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene of Kenya, the phylogenetic relationships of Neogene African crocodylines, and the antiquity of Crocodylus in Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (3): 587. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.652324.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.