Paleosuchus

Paleosuchus is a South American genus of reptiles in the subfamily Caimaninae of the family Alligatoridae. They are the smallest members of the order Crocodilia in the Americas.^[2]

Paleosuchus Temporal range: Late Pleistocene - Recent, 0.1–0 Ma[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Paleosuchus palpebrosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Order:	Crocodilia
Superfamily:	Alligatoroidea
Family:	Alligatoridae
Subfamily:	Caimaninae
Genus:	Paleosuchus Gray, 1862
Species
Paleosuchus palpebrosus Paleosuchus trigonatus

Classification

The genus name Paleosuchus is derived from the Greek palaios meaning "ancient" and soukhos meaning "crocodile god Sobek". This refers to the belief that this crocodile comes from an ancient lineage that diverged from other species of caimans some 30 million years ago.^[3]

At present, Paleosuchus contains only two members: the smooth-fronted or Schneider's dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus trigonatus) and Cuvier's dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus), both from South America.

Paleosuchus is distinguished from other caimans in the subfamily Caimaninae by the absence of an interorbital ridge and the presence of four teeth in the premaxilla region of the jaw, where other species of caimans have five.^[3] The relationships of extant (living) caimans can be shown in the cladogram below, based on molecular DNA-based phylogenetic studies:^[4]

Alligatoridae	Caimaninae Paleosuchus palpebrosus Cuvier's dwarf caiman Paleosuchus trigonatus Schneider's dwarf caiman Jacarea Caiman crocodilus Spectacled caiman Caiman yacare Yacare caiman Caiman latirostris Broad-snouted caiman Melanosuchus niger Black caiman Alligatorinae Alligator sinensis Chinese alligator Alligator mississippiensis American alligator

Species

The genus contains the following two extant species^[5] and a yet unnamed fossil species.^[6]

Genus Paleosuchus – Gray, 1862 – two species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Cuvier's dwarf caiman	Paleosuchus palpebrosus Cuvier, 1807	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, and Venezuela	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Smooth-fronted caiman	Paleosuchus trigonatus (Schneider, 1801)	Amazon and Orinoco Basins	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC