Crocodylus falconensis

Crocodylus falconensis; Temporal range: Early Pliocene (Montehermosan-Chapadmalalan); ~5.332–3.6 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Crocodilia
Family:	Crocodylidae
Genus:	Crocodylus
Species:	C. falconensis
Binomial name
	Crocodylus falconensis; et al., 2013

Crocodylus falconensis is an extinct species of crocodile known from the early Pliocene of the lower part of the Vergel Member of the San Gregorio Formation of Venezuela. C. falconensis was named in 2013 and it is thought to be the basalmost known Neotropical crocodile species. The cladogram below follows the topology from Scheyer et al. (2013).^[1]

Mecistops cataphractus

Crocodylus

C. palaeindicus

Indopacific

C. palustris

C. siamensis

C. porosus

C. mindorensis

	C. johnsoni

	C. novaeguineae

Africa‑New World

C. niloticus

New World

C. falconensis

C. moreletii

C. rhombifer

	C. acutus

	C. intermedius

A 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data established the inter-relationships within Crocodylidae.^[2] In 2021, Hekkala et al. were able to use paleogenomics, extracting DNA from the extinct Voay, to better establish the relationships within Crocodylidae, including the subfamilies Crocodylinae and Osteolaeminae.^[3]

The below cladogram shows the results of the latest study, with C. falconensis at the base of an Africa+Americas clade of crocodiles within the genus Crocodylus:

Crocodylidae

Osteolaeminae

	Mecistops cataphractus West African slender-snouted crocodile

	Euthecodon†

Brochuchus†

Rimasuchus†

	Osteolaemus osborni Congo dwarf crocodile

	Osteolaemus tetraspis Dwarf crocodile

Crocodylinae

Voay†

Crocodylus

	Crocodylus anthropophagus†

	Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni†

	Crocodylus palaeindicus†

	Crocodylus Tirari Desert†

Asia+Australia

Crocodylus johnstoni Freshwater crocodile

	Crocodylus novaeguineae New Guinea crocodile

	Crocodylus mindorensis Philippine crocodile

Crocodylus porosus Saltwater crocodile

	Crocodylus siamensis Siamese crocodile

	Crocodylus palustris Mugger crocodile

Africa+New World

	Crocodylus checchiai†

	Crocodylus falconensis†

Crocodylus suchus West African crocodile

Crocodylus niloticus Nile crocodile

New World

	Crocodylus moreletii Morelet's crocodile

	Crocodylus rhombifer Cuban crocodile

	Crocodylus intermedius Orinoco crocodile

	Crocodylus acutus American crocodile

(crown group)

References[]

^ Scheyer, T. M.; Aguilera, O. A.; Delfino, M.; Fortier, D. C.; Carlini, A. A.; Sánchez, R.; Carrillo-Briceño, J. D.; Quiroz, L.; Sánchez-Villagra, M. R. (2013). "Crocodylian diversity peak and extinction in the late Cenozoic of the northern Neotropics" (PDF). Nature Communications. 4: 1907. doi:10.1038/ncomms2940. PMID 23695701.
^ 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.
^ Hekkala, E.; Gatesy, J.; Narechania, A.; Meredith, R.; Russello, M.; Aardema, M. L.; Jensen, E.; Montanari, S.; Brochu, C.; Norell, M.; Amato, G. (2021-04-27). "Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene "horned" crocodile of Madagascar, Voay robustus". Communications Biology. 4 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 8079395.

This article about a prehistoric archosaur is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[VenezuelaCrocs-1] Scheyer, T. M.; Aguilera, O. A.; Delfino, M.; Fortier, D. C.; Carlini, A. A.; Sánchez, R.; Carrillo-Briceño, J. D.; Quiroz, L.; Sánchez-Villagra, M. R. (2013). "Crocodylian diversity peak and extinction in the late Cenozoic of the northern Neotropics" (PDF). Nature Communications. 4: 1907. doi:10.1038/ncomms2940. PMID 23695701.

[LeeYates2018-2] 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.

[Hekkala2021-3] Hekkala, E.; Gatesy, J.; Narechania, A.; Meredith, R.; Russello, M.; Aardema, M. L.; Jensen, E.; Montanari, S.; Brochu, C.; Norell, M.; Amato, G. (2021-04-27). "Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene "horned" crocodile of Madagascar, Voay robustus". Communications Biology. 4 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 8079395.

[1]

[2]

[3]