Alligatoroidea

Alligatoroidea is one of three superfamilies of crocodylians, the other two being Crocodyloidea and Gavialoidea. Alligatoroidea evolved in the Late Cretaceous period, and consists of the alligators and caimans, as well as extinct members more closely related to the alligators than the two other groups.

Alligatoroidea

Mfield , Matthew Field - http://www.photography.mattfield.com · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CrocodyliaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 89 million years on record.

The record covers at least 89.8 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 93.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 249 of 950 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 63 of 950 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 201 of 950 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 42 of 950 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 304 of 950 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 13 of 950 occurrencesPleistocene — about 54 of 950 occurrences96–93 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences93–89 Mya — about 1 occurrence86–83 Mya — about 6 occurrences83–80 Mya — about 33 occurrences80–77 Mya — about 33 occurrences77–73 Mya — about 33 occurrences73–70 Mya — about 53 occurrences70–67 Mya — about 66 occurrences67–64 Mya — about 45 occurrences64–61 Mya — about 19 occurrences61–57 Mya — about 9 occurrences57–54 Mya — about 48 occurrences54–51 Mya — about 67 occurrences51–48 Mya — about 16 occurrences48–45 Mya — about 20 occurrences45–42 Mya — about 17 occurrences42–38 Mya — about 11 occurrences38–35 Mya — about 23 occurrences35–32 Mya — about 18 occurrences32–29 Mya — about 13 occurrences29–26 Mya — about 12 occurrences26–22 Mya — about 14 occurrences22–19 Mya — about 24 occurrences19–16 Mya — about 45 occurrences16–13 Mya — about 73 occurrences13–9.6 Mya — about 80 occurrences9.6–6.4 Mya — about 62 occurrences6.4–3.2 Mya — about 24 occurrences3.2–0 Mya — about 82 occurrences89.8 Mya11.7 ka96 Mya0 Mya

950 occurrences of Alligatoroidea on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

950 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

172 formations

Willwood — 44.30°N, 109.00°WWillwood — 44.63°N, 108.89°WWillwood — 44.44°N, 108.63°WWillwood — 44.56°N, 108.70°WWillwood — 44.59°N, 108.62°WWillwood — 44.51°N, 108.68°WWillwood — 44.53°N, 108.43°WWillwood — 44.37°N, 108.67°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 108.54°WWillwood — 44.60°N, 108.32°WWillwood — 44.59°N, 108.41°WWillwood — 44.53°N, 108.32°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 108.72°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 108.54°WWillwood — 44.52°N, 108.57°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 108.90°WWillwood — 44.60°N, 108.79°WWillwood — 44.67°N, 108.80°WWillwood — 44.82°N, 109.05°WWillwood — 44.10°N, 108.03°WWillwood — 44.28°N, 108.58°WHell Creek — 47.80°N, 106.10°WHell Creek — 45.95°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.10°N, 103.30°WHell Creek — 45.98°N, 103.75°WHell Creek — 46.38°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.41°N, 103.94°WHell Creek — 46.18°N, 103.84°WHell Creek — 46.46°N, 104.02°WHell Creek — 46.33°N, 103.90°WHell Creek — 45.94°N, 103.95°WHell Creek — 47.68°N, 106.43°WHell Creek — 47.55°N, 107.13°WHell Creek — 47.62°N, 107.32°WHell Creek — 47.52°N, 106.98°WHell Creek — 47.57°N, 107.10°WHell Creek — 47.52°N, 106.40°WHell Creek — 47.58°N, 106.30°WHell Creek — 47.55°N, 107.25°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 106.43°WHell Creek — 47.53°N, 106.92°WHell Creek — 47.07°N, 106.92°WHell Creek — 46.90°N, 101.50°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 107.00°WHell Creek — 47.95°N, 105.63°WHell Creek — 46.41°N, 103.50°WHell Creek — 45.66°N, 105.08°WHell Creek — 45.50°N, 103.10°WHell Creek — 45.64°N, 103.49°WHell Creek — 45.53°N, 101.63°WHell Creek — 45.00°N, 103.19°WUrumaco — 11.22°N, 70.24°WUrumaco — 11.24°N, 70.31°WUrumaco — 11.27°N, 70.22°WUrumaco — 11.38°N, 69.93°WUrumaco — 11.17°S, 70.30°WPebas — 3.99°S, 73.17°WPebas — 4.01°S, 73.37°WPebas — 4.30°S, 73.46°WPebas — 7.36°S, 74.96°WPebas — 2.81°S, 73.55°WPebas — 3.74°S, 73.25°WDinosaur Park — 50.81°N, 111.63°WDinosaur Park — 49.12°N, 110.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.74°N, 111.49°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.46°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.40°WDinosaur Park — 50.78°N, 111.33°WDinosaur Park — 49.07°N, 110.45°WDinosaur Park — 50.68°N, 108.09°WFerris — 41.94°N, 106.88°WFerris — 41.80°N, 107.00°WFerris — 41.96°N, 106.89°WLance — 43.30°N, 104.37°WLance — 43.12°N, 104.64°WLance — 41.57°N, 108.67°WLance — 43.18°N, 104.53°WLance — 43.15°N, 104.57°WLance — 43.13°N, 104.49°WLance — 43.00°N, 104.50°WLance — 43.27°N, 104.62°WLance — 43.27°N, 104.65°WLance — 43.28°N, 104.53°WLance — 45.67°N, 101.48°WLance — 45.39°N, 103.70°WLance — 43.49°N, 104.46°WSolimões — 8.78°S, 68.90°WSolimões — 10.13°S, 67.81°WSolimões — 8.16°S, 70.55°WSolimões — 9.05°S, 68.77°WSolimões — 10.95°S, 69.66°WSolimões — 10.95°S, 69.65°WSolimões — 10.94°S, 69.52°WSolimões — 10.94°S, 69.31°WSolimões — 9.20°S, 72.72°WSolimões — 8.37°S, 72.81°WSolimões — 11.00°S, 68.77°WSolimões — 8.79°S, 67.50°WSolimões — 6.50°S, 69.67°WOldman — 50.75°N, 111.51°WOldman — 49.10°N, 110.94°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.84°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.68°WOldman — 49.16°N, 110.72°WOldman — 50.83°N, 111.32°WOldman — 50.48°N, 111.38°WOldman — 49.36°N, 110.58°WTudela — 42.07°N, 1.61°WTudela — 42.06°N, 1.55°WPozo — 7.33°S, 74.95°WPozo — 6.58°S, 76.28°WAguja — 29.32°N, 103.52°WAguja — 29.10°N, 103.17°WAguja — 29.29°N, 103.55°WSolimoes — 10.12°S, 66.88°WSolimoes — 8.18°S, 70.48°WSolimoes — 9.07°S, 68.66°WSolimoes — 9.02°S, 68.81°WSolimoes — 7.66°S, 72.54°WSolimoes — 10.94°S, 69.34°WFort Union — 44.91°N, 108.93°WFort Union — 44.69°N, 108.36°WFort Union — 43.85°N, 108.35°WFort Union — 44.30°N, 109.00°WFort Union — 46.05°N, 104.48°WFort Union — 47.60°N, 107.00°WVillavieja — 3.26°N, 75.19°WVillavieja — 3.25°N, 75.17°WChadron — 43.60°N, 102.45°WChadron — 43.68°N, 102.82°WChadron — 43.75°N, 102.77°WChadron — 43.78°N, 102.70°WChadron — 43.78°N, 102.55°WChadron — 42.78°N, 103.57°WWasatch — 42.37°N, 108.91°WWasatch — 41.80°N, 110.70°WWasatch — 41.70°N, 109.00°WBridger — 42.37°N, 108.91°WBridger — 41.13°N, 110.13°WBridger — 41.80°N, 110.70°WBridger — 41.20°N, 110.50°WBridger — 41.27°N, 110.34°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WItuzaingo — 31.70°S, 60.48°WUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.44°N, 11.04°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.66°N, 10.23°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.63°N, 11.80°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.16°N, 10.11°ECastillo — 10.37°N, 70.05°WNorth Horn — 39.18°N, 111.27°WNorth Horn — 39.10°N, 111.80°WNorth Horn — 39.00°N, 111.00°WFleming — 31.00°N, 93.40°WFleming — 30.50°N, 95.00°WFleming — 30.68°N, 95.05°WFleming — 30.61°N, 95.13°WFleming — 30.75°N, 95.27°WFleming — 30.59°N, 94.91°WSalamanca — 45.50°S, 67.18°WSalamanca — 45.23°S, 67.10°WSalamanca — 45.07°S, 66.98°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Alligatoroidea has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 148 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 156 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Alligatoroidea and its relatives

Miocene

Where Alligatoroidea and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,232 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 763 sites for Alligatoroidea, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

369 references

Each of the 950 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 357 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Alligatoroidea

Credit
Mfield , Matthew Field - http://www.photography.mattfield.com
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Alligatoroidea was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCrocodylia through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Gray 1844)