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Redalyc.Cocodrilos (Archosauria: Crocodylia) De La Regiónneotropical Biota Colombiana ISSN: 0124-5376 [email protected] Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos "Alexander von Humboldt" Colombia Rodríguez M., Miguel A. Cocodrilos (Archosauria: Crocodylia) de la RegiónNeotropical Biota Colombiana, vol. 1, núm. 2, septiembre, 2000, pp. 135-140 Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos "Alexander von Humboldt" Bogotá, Colombia Disponible en: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=49110210 Cómo citar el artículo Número completo Sistema de Información Científica Más información del artículo Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, España y Portugal Página de la revista en redalyc.org Proyecto académico sin fines de lucro, desarrollado bajo la iniciativa de acceso abierto RodríguezBiota Colombiana 1 (2) 135 - 140, 2000 Crocodiles of the Neotropical Region - 135 Cocodrilos (Archosauria: Crocodylia) de la Región Neotropical Miguel A. Rodríguez M. Pizano S.A., A.A. 94134 Santafé de Bogotá - Colombia. [email protected] Palabras claves: Crocodylia, Cocodrilos, Caimanes, Aligatores, Neotrópico, Lista de Especies Crocodylia [Gmelin, 1789], originalmente Crocodili, Alligatoridae estaría constituida solamente por los géneros es un orden con distribución circuntropical, aunque algu- Alligator, Paleosuchus y Caiman, pues demuestra que nas especies actualmente ocupan áreas cálidas de la zona Melanosuchus es sinónimo de Caiman. temperada. Los cocodrilos vivientes tienen sus ancestros en los protosuchios del triásico superior. Este grupo des- Si bien se reconocen tres linajes entre los actuales cocodri- apareció hace cerca de 195 millones de años y sólo hasta el los, ya se trate de familias o subfamilias, las mayores discre- jurásico inferior se encuentran nuevos cocodrilos del pancias acerca de la filogenia de géneros y especies surgen suborden Mesosuchia, los cuales, después de una espec- al emplear en su construcción ya sean datos morfológicos, tacular radiación adaptativa, desaparecen y dan paso, du- moleculares o análisis combinados. Densmore (1983), al rante el cretácico, a formas más avanzadas, los eusuchios, comparar varias proteínas de 21 especies del orden, encon- grupo al cual pertenecen los actuales cocodrilos. tró una gran coincidencia con los resultados obtenidos a partir de datos morfológicos, con excepción de la relación Con cráneo diápsido, los cocodrilos forman parte, junto entre Crocodylus y Tomistoma, Este último resulta más cer- con las aves, los dinosaurios y los pterosauros, del clado cano a Gavialis que a Crocodylus. Como era de esperarse, de los Archosauromorpha; no obstante los numerosos es- Melanosuchus, Paleosuchus y Caiman constituyen un tudios, aún no se han aclarado las relaciones filogenéticas grupo muy cercano a las dos especies del género Alligator, entre las actuales formas, ni se ha definido exactamente el las cuales a su vez difieren la una de la otra. El análisis número de especies que constituyen el orden. también mostró que los verdaderos cocodrilos (Crocodylus), entre los que no existen grandes diferencias, Algunos autores (Bellairs 1987; Taplin 1984) agrupan vein- se agrupan junto con Osteolamus. tisiete especies y subespecies vivientes como una familia, Crocodylidae, a la cual dividen en tres subfamilias: Al efectuar un análisis de máxima parsimonia con fragmen- Crocodylinae (géneros Crocodylus y Osteolamus), tos de 320 pares de bases de ADN mitocondrial, Densmore Alligatorinae (Alligator, Caiman, Paleosuchus y & White (1996) encontraron algunas concordancias con Melanosuchus) y Gavialinae (donde incluyen al género otras estimaciones moleculares. Su análisis confirmó la re- Gavialis y a la que tal vez pertenece Tomistoma). King y lación entre Tomistoma y Gavialis, géneros éstos que ha- Burke (1989), por su parte, consideran que el orden brían divergido del clado que contiene a los Crocodylidae, Crocodylia está constituido por tres familias: Alligatoridae, subsecuentemente divergentes de los Alligatoridae. Estos Gavialidae y Crocodylidae. En esta última reconocen dos autores indican que Melanosuchus se halla estrechamente subfamilias: Crocodylinae (géneros Crocodylus y relacionado con Caiman y que Paleosuchus es un taxón Osteolamus) y Tomistominae (Tomistoma). Su lista de es- hermano de los dos anteriores géneros. Las especies de pecies incluye entonces 23 especies. Alligator forman un grupo hermano, monofilético, a todos los caimanes (Caiman, Melanosuchus y Paleosuchus). De otro lado, Poe (1996), aunque también divide el grupo en las tres mencionadas familias, considera que Crocodylidae Las diferencias en proteínas, de acuerdo con Coulson & incluye los géneros Crocodylus y Osteolamus. En la familia Hernández (1983), son suficientes, entre otras, para distin- Gavialidae incluye a Gavialis y Tomistoma, mientras que guir los géneros de los Crocodylia, para diferenciar las es- Biota Colombiana 1 (2), 2000 136- Cocodrilos del Neotrópico Rodríguez pecies de caimanes y aligatores y aún las subespecies de Caiman: C. crocodilus y C. latirrostris; a la vez, para la Caiman crocodilus, pero no para diferenciar las especies primera, reconoce al menos cuatro subespecies: C.c. del género Crocodylus, lo que sí se consigue al emplear apaporensis, C.c. crocodilus, C.c. fuscus y C.c. yacare. ADN mitocondrial. Densmore & White (1996) encontraron También indica que aunque para algunos autores C.c. que Crocodylus acutus y C. intermedius son taxa herma- chiapasius es una subespecie válida, solo se trataría de un nos que se alinean con C. rhombifer, mientras que la otra sinónimo de C.c. fuscus. especie del neotrópico C. moreletii se alinea con C. niloticus del África, hecho, no obstante, bastante improba- King & Burke (1989) dividen el género Caiman en tres ble. especies, C. crocodilus, C. latirrostris y C. yacare, y le asignan al menos cuatro subespecies a la primera: C.c. De otro lado, la sistemática del género Caiman, presente en crocodilus, C.c. chiapasius, C.c. fuscus y C.c. apaporensis. Centro y Suramérica, es aún objeto de profunda controver- Tanto un análisis de agrupamiento con base en caracteres sia y confusión; los taxa reconocidos por algunos autores morfológicos (Busack & Pandya 1996), como estudios de no son aceptados por otros a consecuencia de las diver- ADN (Amato & Gatesy 1994) sugieren que C.c. fuscus y gencias resultantes de los análisis morfológicos y C.c. chiapasius forman un grupo natural al igual que C.c. moleculares e incluso de la aplicación del código de no- crocodilus y C.c. yacare. Del mismo modo, otros estudios menclatura. Medem (1981, 1983) reconoce tres especies moleculares indicarían que C.c. apaporensis es sinónimo (Caiman sclerops, C. yacare y C. latirrostris) y varias de C.c. crocodilus. El análisis con base en ADN realizado subespecies (Caiman sclerops fuscus, C.s. apaporensis, por Densmore y White (1996), indica que C.c. crocodilus y C.s. chiapasius, C.s. sclerops, C. latirostris latirrostris y C.c. fuscus son taxa hermanos, a los que se alinea C.c. yacare C. latirostris chacoensis); al tiempo que considera extra- y finalmente se ligaría C. latirostris. vagantes las subespecies propuestas por Fuchs (1974): Caiman crocodilus matogrossensis y Caiman crocodilus El listado de King & Burke (1989), por ser el más ampliamen- paraguayensis. La denominación empleada por Medem para te aceptado, se empleará en el presente trabajo, destacando C. sclerops se ha considerado nomen oblitum, recomen- que aquél también se empleó como base para el Plan de dándose el uso de Caiman crocodilus. Acción para la Conservación de los Cocodrilos (Ross 1998), así como para la realización del censo de los Crocodylia en Aunque Groombridge (1987) acota que su propuesta no es Colombia por Barahona y colaboradores (1996). totalmente satisfactoria, diferencia dos especies dentro de Crocodiles (Archosauria: Crocodylia) of the Neotropical Region Miguel A. Rodríguez M. Key words: Crocodylia, Crocodiles, Caimans, Alligators, Neotropics, Species List C rocodylia [Gmelin, 1789], (originally Crocodili), with birds, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs, the Archosauromoph is a circumtropically-distributed order, with a few extant clade. Despite numerous studies, the phylogenetic species found in warm areas of the temperate zone. The relationships among current forms are still not clear, nor protosuchians of the Upper Triassic are the ancestors of has the exact number of species in the order been living crocodiles. This group disappeared about 195 definitively determined. million years ago and it was not until the Lower Jurassic that new crocodiles, in the suborder Mesosuchia, Some authors (Bellairs 1987; Taplin 1984) group twenty appeared. These underwent a spectacular adaptive seven living species and subspecies in the family, radiation, and then disappeared as well, giving rise during Crocodylidae, which they further divide into three the Cretaceous to the more advanced forms - the subfamilies: Crocodylinae (the genera Crocodylus and eusuchians - to which current crocodiles belong. Osteolamus), Alligatorinae (Alligator, Caiman, Paleosuchus and Melanosuchus) and Gavialinae The crocodiles, with their diapsid skulls comprise, along (including the genus Gavialis and to which Tomistoma Biota Colombiana 1 (2), 2000 Rodríguez Crocodiles of the Neotropical Region - 137 possibly belongs as well). King & Burke (1989) consider and C. intermedius are sister taxa that align with C. the order Crocodylia to consist of three families: rhombifer, while the other neotropical species, C. morelletii, Alligatoridae, Gavialidae y Crocodylidae, in the latter of aligns with C. niloticus
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