Protoalligator Temporal range: Paleocene |
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Partial skull and jaw of Protoalligator huiningensis, on display at the Paleozoological Museum of China | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Crocodilia |
Superfamily: | Alligatoroidea |
Genus: |
†Protoalligator Wang, Sullivan & Liu, 2016 |
Protoalligator is an extinct genus of crocodilian which lived during the Paleocene. It is considered to be an alligatoroid, but its exact phylogeny is uncertain.
The type species, P. huiningensis, was originally named Eoalligator huiningensis. However, the type species of Eoalligator, E. chunyii, is more closely related to crocodiles than to alligators, so in 2016 the new genus Protoalligator was coined for "E." huiningensis.