Crocodylus
Crocodylus is a genus in the family Crocodylidae. The scientific name was proposed by Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in 1768.
Taxonomy
Extant species
The 13-14 living species are:| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
| Crocodylus acutus | American crocodile | Southern Florida and the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of southern Mexico to South America as far south as Peru and Venezuela, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Grand Cayman. | |
| Crocodylus halli | Hall's crocodile | southern New Guinea | |
| Crocodylus intermedius | Orinoco crocodile | Colombia and Venezuela | |
| Crocodylus johnsoni | Freshwater crocodile | Northern regions of Australia | |
| Crocodylus mindorensis | Philippine crocodile | Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park within the Luzon rainforest, San Mariano, Isabela, Dalupiri island in the Babuyan Islands, Abra in Luzon and the Ligawasan Marsh, Lake Sebu in South Cotabato, Pulangi River in Bukidnon, and possibly in the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Mindanao | |
| Crocodylus moreletii | Morelet's crocodile or Mexican crocodile | Mexico, Belize and Guatemala | |
| Crocodylus niloticus | Nile crocodile or African crocodile, | Israel and Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gabon, Angola, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Sudan, South Sudan, Botswana, and Cameroon | |
| Crocodylus novaeguineae | New Guinea crocodile | northern New Guinea | |
| Crocodylus palustris | Mugger crocodile, marsh crocodile, or Indian crocodile | southern Iran, southern Pakistan, southern Nepal, India, Sri Lanka | |
| Crocodylus porosus | Saltwater crocodile or estuarine crocodile | Southeast Asia and Northern Australia | |
| Crocodylus rhombifer | Cuban crocodile | Cuba | |
| Crocodylus siamensis | Siamese crocodile | Indonesia, Brunei, East Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. | |
| Crocodylus suchus | West African crocodile or desert crocodile | Mauritania, Benin, Liberia, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Gabon, Togo, Ivory Coast and Republic of Congo | |
| Crocodylus raninus | Borneo crocodile | Borneo |
Fossils
Established species also include six extinct species:- † Crocodylus anthropophagus is an extinct crocodile from Plio-Pleistocene of Tanzania.
- † Crocodylus checchiai is an extinct crocodile from Late Miocene of Kenya.
- † Crocodylus falconensis is an extinct crocodile from Early Pliocene of Venezuela.
- † Crocodylus palaeindicus is an extinct crocodile the Miocene to the Pleistocene of southern Asia.
- † Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is an extinct crocodile from Plio-Pleistocene of Kenya.
Phylogeny
The cladogram below follows the topology from a 2012 analysis of morphological traits by Christopher A. Brochu and Glenn W. Storrs. Many extinct species of Crocodylus might represent different genera. C. suchus was not included, because its morphological codings were identical to these of C. niloticus. However, the authors suggested that it could be explained by their specimen sampling, and considered the two species to be distinct.