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,
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| P. gradilifrons and P. major skulls from the Bayan Shireh Formation | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Clade: | Neosuchia |
| Family: | †Paralligatoridae |
| Genus: | †Paralligator |
| Type species | |
| †Paralligator gradilifrons Konzhukova, 1954
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| Other species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Taxonomy
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Two species are recognized:[3]
Misassigned species
edit"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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Konzhukova ED (1954) [New fossil crocodilian from Mongolia]. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta ANSSSR 48: 171–194.
- ^ Efimov MB (1981) New paralligatorids from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Trudy Sovmestnoi Sovetsko-Mongol'skoi Paleontologicheskoi Ekspeditsii 15: 26–28.
- ^ Sun, A.-L. (1958). "A new species of Paralligator from Sungarian Plain". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 2 (4): 277–280.
- ^ 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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