In biological classification , a subfamily ( Latin : subfamilia , plural subfamiliae ) is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank , next below family but more inclusive than genus . Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zoological subfamily names with "-inae".
4-623: Alligatorinae is a subfamily within the family Alligatoridae that contains the alligators and their closest extinct relatives, and is the sister taxon to Caimaninae (the caimans). Many genera in Alligatorinae are described, but only the genus Alligator is still living, with the remaining genera extinct . Alligators and caimans split in North America during the early Tertiary or late Cretaceous (about 53 million to about 65 million years ago). The Chinese alligator split from
8-1054: Is cladistically defined as Alligator mississippiensis (the American alligator ) and all species closer to it than to Caiman crocodylus (the spectacled caiman ). This is a stem-based definition for Alligatorinae, and means that it includes more basal extinct alligator ancestors that are more closely related to living alligators than to caimans . The below cladogram shows the phylogeny of Alligatorinae. Caimaninae Ceratosuchus burdoshi † Hassiacosuchus haupti † Navajosuchus mooki † Wannaganosuchus brachymanus † Arambourgia gaudryi † Allognathosuchus polyodon † Allognathosuchus wartheni † Procaimanoidea kayi † Alligator prenasalis † Alligator mcgrewi † Alligator olseni † Alligator sinensis Chinese alligator Alligator thomsoni † Alligator mefferdi † Alligator mississippiensis American alligator This article about an archosaur
12-422: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Subfamily (biology) Detarioideae is an example of a botanical subfamily. Detarioideae is a subdivision of the family Fabaceae (legumes), containing 84 genera. Stevardiinae is an example of a zoological subfamily. Stevardiinae is a large subdivision of the family Characidae , a diverse clade of freshwater fish . This biology article
16-594: The American alligator about 33 million years ago and likely descended from a lineage that crossed the Bering land bridge during the Neogene . The modern American alligator is well represented in the fossil record of the Pleistocene . The alligator's full mitochondrial genome was sequenced in the 1990s. The full genome , published in 2014, suggests that the alligator evolved much more slowly than mammals and birds. Alligatorinae
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