Sea crocodile
As marine crocodiles are crocodiles , made up, adjusted to a life in the sea and have adapted accordingly to this. This is usually a term for fossil crocodile taxa . This applies to the representatives of the Teleosauridae (including Machimosaurus ) and the Metriorhynchidae (including Dakosaurus andiniensis ) belonging to the Mesoeucrocodylia , which are grouped together as Thalattosuchia . The Dyrosauridae also lived in the sea. There is no closer family relationship between these groups, so they are convergent developments.
Due to its way of life in salt and brackish water , the saltwater crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus ) , which is still alive today, is sometimes referred to as a sea crocodile.
literature
- Charles A. Ross (Ed.): Crocodiles and Alligators - Evolution, Biology and Distribution. Year, Hamburg 1994, Orbis, Niedernhausen 2002. ISBN 3-572-01319-4