Melanosuchus Gray 1862

Melanosuchus and its prolific debates Melanosuchus was originally proposed by Gray (1862) as a monospecific genus to relocate the species Caiman niger described by Spix (1825). For a synonym list of Melanosuchus niger see Medem (1963). Regarding the phylogenetic relationships of the genus there are two main propositions: 1) nested within Caiman genus, frequently as sister of C. latirostris (e.g., Poe 1996; Brochu 1997, 1999; Souza-Filho et al. 2019); or, 2) as sister species of Caiman genus (e.g., Oaks 2011; Roberto et al. 2020). The validity of the Melanosuchus is still an open debate with some authors suggesting its synonymization with Caiman (Poe 1996), this discussion, for now, goes beyond the scope of the present contribution. However, we suggest that the propositions made by Fitzhugh (2016) for molecular inferences should be considered in future works addressing this question.
Published as part of Souza-Filho, Jonas Pereira De, Guilherme, Edson, Toledo, Peter Mann De, Carvalho, Ismar De Souza, Negri, Francisco Ricardo, Maciente, Andr��a Aparecida Da Rocha, Cidade, Giovanne M., Lacerda, Mauro Bruno Da Silva & Souza, Lucy Gomes De, 2020, On a new Melanosuchus species (Alligatoroidea: Caimaninae) from Solim��es Formation (Eocene-Pliocene), Northern Brazil, and evolution of Caimaninae, pp. 561-593 in Zootaxa 4894 (4) on page 563, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4894.4.5, http://zenodo.org/record/4316776
{"references":["Gray, J. E. (1862) A synopsis of the species of Alligators. Annals and magazine of natural history, 10 (3), 125 - 169.","Spix, J. B. (1825) Animalia nova sive species novae Lacertarum, quas in itinere per Brasiliam annis MDCCCXVII-MDCCCXX jussu et auspiciis Maximiliani Josephi I. In: De Pix, D. J. B. (Eds.), Bavaria Regis suscepto collegit et descripsit. Typis, Franc. Seraph. H ʾ bschamanni, Munich, pp. 1 - 110.","Medem, F. (1963) Osteologia Craneal, Distribucion geografica y ecologia de Melanosuchus niger (Spix) (Crocodylia, Alligatoridae). Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales, 12 (45), 5 - 23. https: // doi. org / 10.1590 / S 0100 - 736 X 2016001000018","Poe, S. (1996) Data set incongruence and the phylogeny of Crocodilians. Systematic Biology, 45 (4), 393 - 414. https: // doi. org / 10.1093 / sysbio / 45.4.393","Brochu, C. A. (1997) Fossils, morphology, divergence timing. and the phylogenetic relationships of Gavia 1 is. Systematic Biology, 46, 479 - 522. https: // doi. org / 10.1093 / sysbio / 46.3.479","Brochu, C. A. (1999) Phylogenetics, taxonomy, and historical biogeography of Alligatoroidea. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 19, 9 - 100. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 02724634.1999.10011201","Souza-Filho, J. P., Souza, R. G., Hsiou, A. S., Riff, D., Guilherme, E., Negri, F. R. & Cidade, G. M. (2019) A new caimanine (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) species from the Solimies Formation of Brazil and the phylogeny of Caimaninae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 38 (5), e 1528450. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 02724634.2018.1528450","Oaks, J. R. (2011) A time-calibrated species tree of Crocodylia reveals a recent radiation of the true crocodiles. Evolution, 65 (11), 3285 - 3297. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / j. 1558 - 5646.2011.01373. x","Roberto, J. I., Bittencourt, P. S., Muniz, F. L., Hernandez-Rangel, S. M., Nobrega, Y. C., Avila, R. W., Souza, B. C., Alvarez, G., Miranda-Chumacero, G., Campos, Z., Farias, I. P. & Hrbek, T. (2020) Unexpected but unsurprising lineage diversity within the most widespread Neotropical crocodilian genus Caiman (Crocodylia, Alligatoridae). Systematics and Biodiversity, 18 (4), 377 - 395. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 14772000.2020.1769222","Fitzhugh, K. (2016) Sequence Data, Phylogenetic Inference, and Implications of Downward Causation. Acta Biotheoretica, 64 (2), 133 - 160. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / s 10441 - 016 - 9277 - 0"]}