| Alligatoroidea Temporal range: Late Cretaceous to Recent |
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|---|---|
| Alligators (shown above) and caimans are living members of the superfamily Alligatoroidea. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Order: | Crocodylia |
| Node: | Brevirostres |
| Superfamily: | Alligatoroidea Gray, 1844 |
| Families | |
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Alligatoroidea is a superfamily of crocodilians that evolved in the Late Cretaceous period. Cladistically, it is defined as Alligator mississippiensis (the American alligator) and all crocodylians more closely related to A. mississippiensis than to either Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile crocodile) or Gavialis gangeticus (the gharial).[1]