Back Krokodile ALS Crocodylia AN تمساحيات Arabic تمساحيات ARZ Crocodilia AST Timsahlar Azerbaijani Boyo' BDR Кракадзілы Byelorussian Кракадзілы BE-X-OLD Крокодили Bulgarian
| Crocodilia Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous – Recent
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| American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) | |
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| Order: | Crocodilia Owen, 1842
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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 are first found in the Upper Cretaceous 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 the sister group of the dinosaurs. This means crocodilians are the closest living relatives to birds. They are both survivors of the Archosauria.
