Crocodylinae is a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

of true crocodiles within the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Crocodylidae Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant mem ...

, and is the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

Osteolaeminae Osteolaeminae is a subfamily of true crocodiles within the family Crocodylidae containing the dwarf crocodiles and slender-snouted crocodiles, and is the sister taxon to Crocodylinae. Taxonomy Osteolaeminae was named by Christopher Brochu in ...

( dwarf crocodiles and slender-snouted crocodiles).

Taxonomy

Crocodylinae was

cladistically Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived chara ...

defined by Christopher Brochu in 1999 as ''Crocodylus niloticus'' (the

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...

) and all

crocodylians Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period (Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living ...

more closely related to it than to ''Osteolaemus tetraspis'' (the Dwarf crocodile). This is a stem-based definition, and is the

. Crocodylinae contains the

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Crocodylus''. It is disputed as to whether is also includes ''

Mecistops ''Mecistops'' is a genus of crocodiles, the slender-snouted crocodiles, native to sub-Saharan Africa. Taxonomy and etymology Traditionally placed in ''Crocodylus'', recent studies in DNA and morphology have shown that it is in fact basal to ' ...

'' (slender-snouted crocodiles), or the

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus

Voay ''Voay'' is an extinct genus of crocodile from Madagascar that lived during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene, containing only one species, ''V. robustus''. Numerous subfossils have been found, including complete skulls, noted for their distinctiv ...

Phylogeny

Some morphological studies have recovered ''

'' as a basal member of Crocodylinae, more closely related to '' Crocodylus'' than to ''

Osteolaemus ''Osteolaemus'' is a genus of crocodiles. They are small, secretive crocodiles that occur in wetlands of West and Middle Africa. They are commonly known as the African dwarf crocodiles. Unlike other crocodiles, ''Osteolaemus'' are strictly noct ...

'' and the other members of

, as shown in the

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

below. The below

is based on a 2021 study using

paleogenomics Paleogenomics is a field of science based on the reconstruction and analysis of genomic information in extinct species. Improved methods for the extraction of ancient DNA (aDNA) from museum artifacts, ice cores, archeological or paleontological site ...

that extracted DNA from the extinct ''

'', recovering it as a member of Crocodylinae.

Species list

Crocodylinae contains 13-14

species and 6

species. *Subfamily Crocodylinae **Genus '' Crocodylus'' ***''Crocodylus acutus'',

American crocodile The American crocodile (''Crocodylus acutus'') is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the coasts ...

***''Crocodylus halli'',

Hall's New Guinea crocodile ''Crocodylus halli'', also known as Hall's New Guinea crocodile, is a species of crocodile endemic to the island of New Guinea. It is found on the southern half of the island, south of the New Guinea highlands. It is named after Philip M. Hall, a ...

***''Crocodylus intermedius'',

Orinoco crocodile The Orinoco crocodile (''Crocodylus intermedius'') is a critically endangered crocodile. Its population is very small, and they can only be found in the Orinoco river basin in Colombia and Venezuela. Extensively hunted for their skins in the 19 ...

***''Crocodylus johnstoni'',

Freshwater crocodile The freshwater crocodile (''Crocodylus johnstoni''), also known as the Australian freshwater crocodile, Johnstone's crocodile or the freshie, is a species of crocodile endemic to the northern regions of Australia. Unlike their much larger Austr ...

, or Johnstone's crocodile ***''Crocodylus mindorensis'',

Philippine crocodile The Philippine crocodile (''Crocodylus mindorensis''), also known as the Mindoro crocodile, the Philippine freshwater crocodile, the ''bukarot'' in Ilocano, and more generally as a ''buwaya'' in most Filipino lowland cultures, is one of two spec ...

***''Crocodylus moreletii'',

Morelet's crocodile Morelet's crocodile ''(Crocodylus moreletii)'', also known as the Mexican crocodile or Belize crocodile, is a modest-sized crocodilian found only in fresh waters of the Atlantic regions of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. It usually grows to about ...

or Mexican crocodile ***''Crocodylus niloticus'',

***''Crocodylus novaeguineae'',

New Guinea crocodile The New Guinea crocodile (''Crocodylus novaeguineae'') is a small species of crocodile found on the island of New Guinea north of the mountain ridge that runs along the centre of the island. The population found south of the mountain ridge, form ...

***''Crocodylus palustris'', mugger, marsh or Indian crocodile ***''Crocodylus porosus'',

Saltwater crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been listed ...

or Estuarine crocodile ****''Crocodylus raninus'',

Borneo crocodile ''Crocodylus raninus'', the Borneo crocodile, is an enigmatic species of freshwater crocodile endemic to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo.Anon. From crocs to croaks: Borneo's reptiles and amphibians''. Accessed on: 03:41, 4 August 2011 (UTC) ...

, is currently considered to be a synonym of ''Crocodylus porosus''; whether or not it is a distinct species remains unclear. ***''Crocodylus rhombifer'',

Cuban crocodile The Cuban crocodile (''Crocodylus rhombifer'') is a small-medium species of crocodile endemic to Cuba. Typical length is and typical weight . Large males can reach as much as in length and weigh more than . Despite its smaller size, it is a hig ...

***''Crocodylus siamensis'',

Siamese crocodile The Siamese crocodile (''Crocodylus siamensis'') is a medium-sized freshwater crocodile native to Indonesia (Borneo and possibly Java), Brunei, East Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The species is critically endangered an ...

***''Crocodylus suchus'',

West African crocodile The West African crocodile, desert crocodile, or sacred crocodile (''Crocodylus suchus'') is a species of crocodile related to – and often confused with – the larger and more aggressive Nile crocodile (''C. niloticus''). Taxonomy Compared ...

, desert or sacred crocodile ***'' Crocodylus anthropophagus'' ***''

Crocodylus checchiai ''Crocodylus checchiai'' is an extinct species of crocodile from the Miocene to Pliocene of Libya and Kenya. ''C. checchiai'' was named in 1947 based on a skull from the Sahabi Formation. Remains from the lower Nawata Formation in the Turkana Bas ...

'' ***''

Crocodylus falconensis ''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 after Falcón State and is though ...

'' ***''

Crocodylus palaeindicus ''Crocodylus palaeindicus'' is an extinct species of crocodile from southern Asia. ''C. palaeindicus'' lived from the Miocene to the Pliocene. It may be an ancestor of the living Mugger crocodile. History ''C. palaeindicus'' was first named by ...

'' ***''

Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni ''Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni'' is an extinct species of crocodile from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of the Turkana Basin in Kenya. It is closely related to the species ''Crocodylus anthropophagus'', which lived during the same time in Tanzania. ' ...

'' ** Genus ''

'' ***''

Voay robustus ''Voay'' is an extinct genus of crocodile from Madagascar that lived during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene, containing only one species, ''V. robustus''. Numerous subfossils have been found, including complete skulls, noted for their distin ...

'' (formerly ''Crocodylus robustus'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q107395048 Crocodylidae Tetrapod subfamilies Taxa named by Georges Cuvier