Paralligator
{{Short description|Extinct genus of neosuchian crocodile}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Late Cretaceous,
~{{fossil range|96|70}}
| image = Paralligator Skulls.png
| image_caption = P. gradilifrons and P. major skulls from the Bayan Shireh Formation
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Paralligator
| type_species = {{extinct}}Paralligator gradilifrons
| type_species_authority = Konzhukova, 1954
| subdivision_ranks = Other species
| subdivision =
- {{extinct}}P. ancestralis Efimov, 1981
- {{extinct}}P. major Efimov, 1981
| synonyms =
- Shamosuchus tersus
Efimov, 1983 - Shamosuchus ulanicus
Efimov, 1983 - Shamosuchus ulgicus
Efimov, 1981
}}
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 {{cvt|4|m}} in length.{{cite book |last=Storrs |first=G. W. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259842662 |title=The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia |author2=Efimov, M. B. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |editor1=Michael J. Benton |pages=402–419 |chapter=Mesozoic crocodyliforms of north-central Eurasia |editor2=Mikhail A. Shishkin |editor3=David M. Unwin |editor4=Evgenii N. Kurochkin}}{{Cite journal |last=Turner |first=Alan H. |date=2015-02-25 |title=A Review of Shamosuchus and Paralligator (Crocodyliformes, Neosuchia) from the Cretaceous of Asia |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=e0118116 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0118116 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4340866 |pmid=25714338 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1018116T |doi-access=free }}
Taxonomy
File:Paralligator major.jpg of P. gradilifrons]]
Two species are recognized:{{species list
| Paralligator gradilifrons | Konzhukova, 1954
| Paralligator major | Efimov, 1981
}}
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.{{cite journal |last=Sun |first=A.-L. |year=1958 |title=A new species of Paralligator from Sungarian Plain. |journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=277–280}}{{cite journal |last=Wu |first=X.-C. |author2=Cheng, Z.-W. |author3= Russell, A. P. |year=2001 |title=Cranial anatomy of a new crocodyliform (Archosauria: Crocodylomorpha) from the Lower Cretaceous of Song-Liao Plain, northeastern China |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=38 |issue=12 |pages=1653–1663 |doi=10.1139/cjes-38-12-1653}} However, the type material is too fragmentary to be considered diagnostic, and the species is a nomen dubium. Turner (2015) also referred P. ancestralis a junior subjective synonym of P. gradilifrons.
References
{{Reflist|refs=
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{{Neosuchia|N.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q25094546}}
Category:Late Cretaceous crocodylomorphs of Asia