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Delfino M, Iurino DA, Mercurio B, Piras P, Rook L, Sardella R. Old African fossils provide new evidence for the origin of the American crocodiles. Sci Rep 2020; 10:11127. [PMID: 32703957 PMCID: PMC7378212 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68482-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular and morphological phylogenies concur in indicating that the African lineages formerly referred to Crocodylus niloticus are the sister taxon the four Neotropical crocodiles (Crocodylus intermedius, C. moreleti, C. acutus and C. rhombifer), implying a transoceanic dispersal from Africa to America. So far the fossil record did not contribute to identify a possible African forerunner of the Neotropical species but, curiously, the oldest remains referred to the African C. niloticus are Quaternary in age, whereas the oldest American fossils of Crocodylus are older, being dated to the early Pliocene, suggesting that another species could be involved. We re-described, also thanks to CT imaging, the only well-preserved topotipic skull of Crocodylus checchiai Maccagno, 1947 from the late Miocene (Messinian) African site of As Sahabi in Libya. As previously suggested on the basis of late Miocene material from Tanzania, C. checchiai is a valid, diagnosable species. According to our phylogenetic analyses, C. checchiai is related to the Neotropical taxa and could be even located at the base of their radiation, therefore representing the missing link between the African and the American lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Delfino
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Turin, Italy.
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Dawid A Iurino
- PaleoFactory, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy.
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli, 06123, Perugia, Italy.
| | - Bruno Mercurio
- PaleoFactory, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy
| | - Paolo Piras
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale e Geotecnica, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00184, Roma, Italy
- Center for Evolutionary Ecology, Largo S. Leonardo Murialdo 1, 00146, Roma, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Rook
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Paleo[Fab]Lab, Università di Firenze, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121, Florence, Italy
| | - Raffaele Sardella
- PaleoFactory, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy
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