Paralligator

Paralligator is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodile that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) period in what is now the Gobi desert of Mongolia, approximately 71-70 million years ago.[1]

Paralligator
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 71–70 Ma
↓
P. gradilifrons and P. major skulls
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Family: †Paralligatoridae
Konzhukova, 1954
Genus: †Paralligator
Konzhukova, 1954
Species
  • †P. gradilifrons Konzhukova, 1954 (type)
  • †P. major Efimov, 1981 (type)

Paleobiology

Paralligator probably would have had to raise its head completely out of the water to breathe. As this cranial morphology does not suit an ambush predator, it lends support to the idea of a diet of aquatic invertebrates. The teeth were adapted to crush bivalves, gastropods and other animals with a shell or exoskeleton.

Taxonomy

Two species are recognized, Paralligator gradilifrons and P. major.[2][3]

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.[4][5] However, the type material is too fragmentary to be considered diagnostic, and the species is a nomen dubium.[1]

References
  1. Turner AH (2015) A Review of Shamosuchus and Paralligator (Crocodyliformes, Neosuchia) from the Cretaceous of Asia. PLoS ONE 10(2): e0118116. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118116
  2. Konzhukova ED (1954) [New fossil crocodilian from Mongolia]. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta ANSSSR 48: 171–194.
  3. Efimov MB (1981) New paralligatorids from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Trudy Sovmestnoi Sovetsko-Mongol'skoi Paleontologicheskoi Ekspeditsii 15: 26–28.
  4. Sun, A.-L. (1958). "A new species of Paralligator from Sungarian Plain". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 2 (4): 277–280.
  5. 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: 1653–1663. doi:10.1139/cjes-38-12-1653.


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