Crocodilia

The order Crocodilia is a group of archosaur reptiles. There are three living families of crocodilians.

Some crocodilians are crocodiles, alligators, gharials, and caimans.

Crocodilians first evolved during the Earlier Jurassic period. They are descendents of a much wider group of archosaurs called the crocodylomorphs. These, in the Upper Triassic, were slender land-living animals.

The crocodylomorphs, in turn, were part of an even larger group, the Crurotarsi, which are first seen early in the Triassic.

Crocodilians are the sister group of the dinosaurs. This means crocodilians are the closest living relatives to birds. They are both survivors of the Archosauria.


Taxonomy
Clade
Sauropsida
Archosauria
Crurotarsi
Crocodylomorphs
Crocodilia

Families
 Order Crocodilia
 Family Crocodylidae
 Crocodiles
 Family Alligatoridae
 Alligators
 Caimans
 Family Gavialidae
 Gharial
 False gharial

See also: Crocodilomorpha, the archosaur stem-group.



Category:Reptiles
Category:Archosaurs