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American Zoologist 1989 29(3):873-883; doi:10.1093/icb/29.3.873
© 1989 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Crocodilians and Their Helminth Parasites: Macroevolutionary Considerations1

DANIEL R. BROOKS and RICHARD T. O'GRADY
Department of Zoology, University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada
Division of Worms, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C. 20560

Crocodilian relationships supported by the phylogenetic relationships of digenean and nematode parasites are compared with current estimates of crocodilian phylogeny. The parasite data support (1) the placement of Gavialis as the sister-group of the alligatorids and the crocodylids, (2) the monophyly of alligators and caimans, (3) the placement of Caiman (as a monophyletic group) as the sister-group of Melanosuchus plus Paleosuchus, and (4) ancient origins of Crocodylus consistent with patterns of continental drift. The parasite data do not support the monophyly of Crocodylus, but the "misplaced" species (C. palustris and Osteolaemus) have had few parasites reported from them. There is evidence of widespread host-switching, but most of the ambiguity appears to result from uneven representation of parasite groups in host species. This is probably due both to uneven sampling by parasitologists and to parasite extinctions associated with crocodilian extinctions.


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