Brevirostres Temporal range: Late Cretaceous - Recent, 83.5–0 Ma |
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American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Crocodilia |
Clade: |
Brevirostres von Zittel, 1890 |
Brevirostres is a clade of crocodylians that includes alligatoroids and crocodyloids. Brevirostres are crocodylians with short snouts, and are distinguished from the long, slender-snouted gharials. It is defined phylogenetically as the last common ancestor of Alligator mississippiensis (the American alligator) and Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile crocodile) and all of its descendants. Below is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic relations of Brevirostres from Brochu (1997):