Paralligator

Paralligator is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodylomorph that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Maastrichtian) period in what is now the Bayan Shireh and Nemegt formations of Mongolia, approximately 96 million to 70 million years ago. P. gradilifrons reached up to 4 m (13 ft) in length.[1][2]

Paralligator
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
~
P. gradilifrons and P. major skulls from the Bayan Shireh Formation
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Clade: Neosuchia
Family: †Paralligatoridae
Genus: †Paralligator
Type species
†Paralligator gradilifrons
Konzhukova, 1954
Other species
  • †P. ancestralis Efimov, 1981
  • †P. major Konzhukova, 1954
Synonyms
  • Shamosuchus tersus
    Efimov, 1983
  • Shamosuchus ulanicus
    Efimov, 1983
  • Shamosuchus ulgicus
    Efimov, 1981

Taxonomy
Life restoration of P. gradilifrons

Two species are recognized:[3]

  • Paralligator gradilifrons Konzhukova, 1954[4]
  • Paralligator major Efimov 1981[5]

Misassigned species

"Paralligator" sungaricus, described from the Early Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation of Jilin Province, China, is based on postcranial remains consisting of a few presacral vertebrae, dorsal osteoderms, a partial left femur, and the proximal part of a left tibia and fibula.[6][7] However, the type material is too fragmentary to be considered diagnostic, and the species is a nomen dubium.[3] Turner (2015) also referred P. ancestralis a junior subjective synonym of P. gradilifrons.[3]

References
  1. Storrs, G. W.; Efimov, M. B. (2000). "Mesozoic crocodyliforms of north-central Eurasia". In Michael J. Benton; Mikhail A. Shishkin; David M. Unwin; Evgenii N. Kurochkin (eds.). The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 402–419.
  2. Turner, Alan H. (2015-02-25). "A Review of Shamosuchus and Paralligator (Crocodyliformes, Neosuchia) from the Cretaceous of Asia". PLOS ONE. 10 (2): e0118116. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1018116T. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118116. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4340866. PMID 25714338.
  3. Turner, A. H. (2015). "A review of Shamosuchus and Paralligator (Crocodyliformes, Neosuchia) from the Cretaceous of Asia". PLOS ONE. 10 (2): e0118116. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1018116T. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118116. PMC 4340866. PMID 25714338.
  4. Konzhukova ED (1954) [New fossil crocodilian from Mongolia]. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta ANSSSR 48: 171–194.
  5. Efimov MB (1981) New paralligatorids from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Trudy Sovmestnoi Sovetsko-Mongol'skoi Paleontologicheskoi Ekspeditsii 15: 26–28.
  6. Sun, A.-L. (1958). "A new species of Paralligator from Sungarian Plain". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 2 (4): 277–280.
  7. Wu, X.-C.; Cheng, Z.-W.; Russell, A. P. (2001). "Cranial anatomy of a new crocodyliform (Archosauria: Crocodylomorpha) from the Lower Cretaceous of Song-Liao Plain, northeastern China". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 38 (12): 1653–1663. doi:10.1139/cjes-38-12-1653.
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