Crocodylomorpha

Crocodylomorphs
Temporal range: Late Triassic–Present,
Skeleton of Terrestrisuchus, an early crocodylomorph
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Paracrocodylomorpha
Clade: Loricata
Clade:
Hay, 1930
Type species
Crocodylus niloticus
Laurenti, 1768
Subgroups
  • Carnufex
  • Dianchungosaurus
  • Dibothrosuchus
  • Dromicosuchus
  • Eopneumatosuchus
  • Hesperosuchus
  • Kayentasuchus
  • Litargosuchus
  • Pattisaura
  • Pseudhesperosuchus
  • Redondavenator
  • Saltoposuchus (Saltoposuchidae?)
  • Sphenosuchus
  • Terrestrisuchus
  • Trialestes (Trialestidae?)
  • Solidocrania Ruebenstahl et al., 2022
    • Almadasuchus
    • Hallopus (Hallopodidae?)
    • Junggarsuchus
    • Macelognathus
    • Phyllodontosuchus
    • Thalattosuchia (relationships uncertain)
    • Crocodyliformes

Crocodylomorpha is a group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that includes the crocodilians and their extinct relatives. They were the only members of Pseudosuchia to survive the end-Triassic extinction. Extinct crocodylomorphs were considerably more ecologically diverse than modern crocodilians. The earliest and most primitive crocodylomorphs are represented by "sphenosuchians", a paraphyletic assemblage containing small-bodied, slender forms with elongated limbs that walked upright, which represents the ancestral morphology of Crocodylomorpha. These forms persisted until the end of the Jurassic.[1] During the Jurassic, crocodylomorphs morphologically diversified into numerous niches, with the subgroups Neosuchia (which includes modern crocodilians) and the extinct Thalattosuchia adapting to aquatic life, while some terrestrial groups adopted herbivorous and omnivorous lifestyles. Terrestrial crocodylomorphs would continue to co-exist alongside aquatic forms until becoming extinct during the Miocene.

  1. ^ Ruebenstahl, Alexander A.; Klein, Michael D.; Yi, Hongyu; Xu, Xing; Clark, James M. (14 June 2022). "Anatomy and relationships of the early diverging Crocodylomorphs Junggarsuchus sloani and Dibothrosuchus elaphros". The Anatomical Record. 305 (10): 2463–2556. doi:10.1002/ar.24949. ISSN 1932-8486. PMC 9541040. PMID 35699105.