Crocodyliformes is a group of archosaurs including extant crocodilians (alligators and caimans, crocodiles, and gharials) and many extinct forms as old as the Late Triassic (about 200 million years). Although modern crocodyliform diversity is small, the group was remarkably diverse during the Mesozoic and into the Neogene, both morphologically and ecologically. Along with forms occupying freshwater habitats, like today, this group also included representatives with adaptations for terrestrial or marine life. These are the only archosaurs to fully conquer the marine environment and one of the few groups able to compete with carnivorous dinosaurs at land. Although ancestrally carnivorous, omnivores and even herbivores are known.
Our knowledge of fossil crocodyliforms has increased significantly over the last 20 years, both because of frequent new discoveries and a significant increase in the number of researchers dedicated to this subject. South America stands out on both fronts, with young researchers in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Mexico dedicated to the study of exciting new fossils from the Jurassic to the Pleistocene. These offer new perspectives for understanding of the evolution and diversity this group in our region.
The First Symposium on the Evolution of Crocodyliformes was held during the III Latin American Congress of Vertebrate Paleontology in 2008 (Neuquén, Argentina), with more than 20 abstracts presented by researchers from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Canada and the United States. It brought together leading scientists in this area and created a welcoming environment for exchange and scientific collaboration. In 2011 the Second edition occurred during the IV Latin American Congress of Vertebrate Paleontology (San Juan, Argentina), and the meeting increased in number or attendants and presented talks. At same year, the prestigious Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society published a special volume with 14 full papers with contributions sent to the First Symposium on the Evolution of Crocodyliformes.
For these reasons, we consider it appropriate to bring to the XXVI Brazilian Congress of Paleontology the III Symposium on the Evolution of Crocodyliformes, to congregate former and new researchers, disseminate the latest findings and studies, and discuss new prospects for the understanding of crocodyliform knowledge under the discoveries and improvements carried out over the last eight years .
