Melanosuchus

Melanosuchus, from Ancient Greek μέλας (mélas), meaning "black", and σούχος (soúkhos), meaning "crocodile", is a genus of caiman. The genus is most commonly referred to as the "Black Caimans". The black caiman of South America is the sole extant (living) species, and is the largest living member of the subfamily Caimaninae, as well as the entire alligator family Alligatoridae.

Melanosuchus Temporal range: Late Miocene-Present, 11.6–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Order:	Crocodilia
Superfamily:	Alligatoroidea
Family:	Alligatoridae
Subfamily:	Caimaninae
Clade:	Jacarea
Genus:	Melanosuchus Gray, 1862
Species
Melanosuchus niger †Melanosuchus latrubessei

Taxonomy

There are two known valid species of Melanosuchus, one extant and one extinct:

• Melanosuchus niger (Spix, 1825) – known as the Black caiman, native to the Amazon basin of South America
• †Melanosuchus latrubessei Souza-Filho et al, 2020 – discovered in the Solimões Formation of Brazil, dating from the Upper Miocene^[1]

Melanosuchus fisheri, named by Medina in 1976, from the Late Miocene Urumaco Formation of Venezuela is sometimes considered as a nomen dubium,^[1][2] and possibly synonymous with Melanosuchus niger.^[3]

Phylogeny

Melanosuchus is a member of the subfamily Caimaninae, which contains the two other extant genera Caiman and Paleosuchus, all of which are native to South and Central America. The below cladogram shows the relationships of all extant genera within Crocodilia (excluding separate extinct taxa), based on molecular phylogenetic studies.^[4][5][6][7]

Crocodilia	Alligatoridae Caimaninae Caiman Melanosuchus Paleosuchus Alligatorinae Alligator Longirostres Crocodylidae Crocodylus Mecistops Osteolaemus Gavialidae Gavialis Tomistoma