Melanosuchus

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

Melanosuchus is a genus of caiman. 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.

Taxonomy

Extant species

There is one extant species:

Melanosuchus niger (Spix, 1825) – known as the Black caiman, native to the Amazon basin of South America

Fossil species

Fossil species are known from the Late Miocene of South America and include:

Melanosuchus latrubessei Souza-Filho et al, 2020 – discovered in the Solimões Formation of Brazil, dating from the Upper Miocene^[1]
Melanosuchus fisheri Medina, 1976 – from the Urumaco Formation of Venezuela, dating from the Late Miocene, but now considered as nomen dubium^[1]^[2]

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.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]