Alligator mefferdi

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Alligator mefferdi
Temporal range: Miocene, 13.8–10.3 Ma[1]
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Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Alligatoridae
Subfamily: Alligatorinae
Genus: Alligator
Species:
†A. mefferdi
Binomial name
†Alligator mefferdi
, 1946

Alligator mefferdi is an extinct species of alligator described by . They lived in the Miocene period, and their range was principally in what is now Nebraska, United States.[2][3] The type specimen was discovered in the Ash Hollow Formation at Ash Hollow State Historical Park.[2]

Classification[]

A. mefferdi is a member of the subfamily Alligatorinae, within the larger family Alligatoridae. Phylogenetic studies have found A. mefferdi to be most closely related to the living American alligator.[4][1]

Measurements[]

The average measurements for the skull of A. mefferdi are 298 x 170 millimeters. Based on the length, the estimated body mass was 34.6 kg.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Rio, Jonathan P.; Mannion, Philip D. (6 September 2021). "Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem". PeerJ. 9: e12094. doi:10.7717/peerj.12094.
  2. ^ a b c [1] Fossilworks
  3. ^ "Alligators may not have changed much in 8 million years". Mashable UK. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  4. ^ Michael S. Y. Lee; Adam M. Yates (27 June 2018). "Tip-dating and homoplasy: reconciling the shallow molecular divergences of modern gharials with their long fossil". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 285 (1881). doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1071. PMC 6030529. PMID 30051855.


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