Crocodilia
order of large reptiles
The Order Crocodilia is a group of Archosaur reptiles. There are three living families.
Crocodilians Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous – Recent
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American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) | |
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Order: | Crocodilia Owen, 1842
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Crocodiles are the nearest living relatives to birds, because they are both survivors of the Archosaurs.
Crocodiles are first found in the Upper Cretaceous period. They are descendents of a much wider group of Archosaurs called the Crocodylomorphs. These, in the Upper Triassic, were slender land-living forms, the sister group of the dinosaurs.
The Crocodylomorphs, in turn, were part of an even larger group, the Crurotarsi, which are first seen early in the Triassic.
- Sauropsida
- Archosauria
- Crurotarsi
- Crocodylomorphs
- Crocodilia
- Crocodylomorphs
- Crurotarsi
- Archosauria
TaxonomyEdit
- Order Crocodilia
- Family Crocodylidae
- Family Alligatoridae
- Family Gavialidae
Wikispecies has information on: Crocodilia. |
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