Tag Archive for 'Alligatoridae'

Life reconstruction of Poposaurus; this crocodilyan was around 4 m (13 feet) long and lived alongside dinosaurs from 237 to 201.3 million years ago. Image credit: Jagged Fang.

Scientists Map Family Tree of Pseudosuchia

Dec 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Pseudosuchia is a group of archosaurian reptiles, defined as all species more closely related to crocodylians than to birds. Living representatives of...

An artistic reconstruction of Alligator munensis. Image credit: Márton Szabó.

Fossil of Deep-Snouted Alligator Species Found in Thailand

Jul 18, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The newly-identified species is closely related to the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis), the only living representative of Alligatoridae (the crown-group...

Tsoabichi greenriverensis, cast of specimen in private collection. Scale bar - 5 cm. Image credit: Christopher A. Brochu, doi: 10.1080/02724634.2010.483569.

New Fossils Illuminate Evolutionary History of Caimans

Aug 31, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

An incomplete fossil record hampers reconstructing the early evolution of caimans (subfamily Caimaninae). In new research, paleontologists from Germany...

Holotype of Chinatichampsus wilsonorum: (A) cranium in dorsal view; (B) interpretive line drawing; gray areas indicate matrix. Abbreviations: a. - alveolus; fr - frontal; ITF - infratemporal fenestra; ju - jugal; la - lacrimal; m. - matrix; OR - orbit; pa - parietal; palp - possible palpebral; pmx - premaxilla; po - postorbital; prf - prefrontal; qj - quadratojugal; qu - quadrate; so - supraoccipital; sq - squamosal; STF - supratemporal fenestra; t. - tooth. Scale bar - 5 cm. Image credit: Stocker et al., doi: 10.7717/peerj.10665.

New Species of Ancient Caiman Unearthed in Texas

Jan 20, 2021 by News Staff

A new genus and species of caimanine alligatorid being named Chinatichampsus wilsonorum has been discovered by a team of paleontologists from Virginia...

Life reconstruction of the putative attack of a young to sub-adult Purussaurus on the ground sloth Pseudoprepotherium in a swamp of proto-Amazonia. Image credit: Jorge A. González.

Giant Miocene Caiman Preyed on Ground Sloths

Aug 27, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

Purussaurus, a top predator that lived in the wetlands of proto-Amazonia between 6 and 13 million years ago (Miocene epoch), hunted not only aquatic animals...