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Osteolaemus tetraspis COPE, 1861

IUCN Red List - Osteolaemus tetraspis - Vulnerable, VU
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Higher TaxaCrocodylidae (Crocodylia, crocodiles) 
SubspeciesOsteolaemus tetraspis tetraspis COPE 1861
Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni SCHMIDT 1919 
Common NamesE: Dwarf crocodile, West African dwarf crocodile, Broad-nosed crocodile
G: Stumpfkrokodil 
SynonymOsteolaemus tetraspis COPE 1861: 550
Crocodilus frontatus MURRAY 1862: 222
Crocodilus frontatus — MURRAY 1862: 213
Crocodilus frontatus — BOCAGE 1866: 41
Halcrosia afzelii LILLJEBORG 1867: 715
Halcrosia nigra GRAY 1867
Halcrosia nigra — GRAY 1870: 428
Osteolaemus tetraspis – BOULENGER 1889
Osteolaemus tetraspis tetraspis WERMUTH & MERTENS 1961
Osteolaemus tetraspis — SPAWLS et al. 2001
Osteolaemus tetraspis — TRAPE, CHIRIO & TRAPE 2012

Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni SCHMIDT 1919
Osteoblepharon osborni SCHMIDT 1919: 421
Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni — WERMUTH 1953
Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni — WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977
Osteolaemus osborni — EATON et al. 2009 
DistributionAngola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic,
Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda,
Zaire

osborni: Congo Basin

tetraspis: greater Ogooué Basin, incl. Gabon, portions of Cameroon and SW Congo.

Type locality: Ogowe River, Gabon Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and not in every cases it works well. We are working on it.
 
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: not located (KING& BURKE 1989: 14) 
CommentBrochu (2007) recognized O. osborni as a distinct taxonomic unit based on variations in four cranial characters that appear to be fixed between western Africa and the Congo Basin.

Conservation: Crocodylus robustus Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872 is more closely related to the living African dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus) than to living Crocodylus. C. robustus has been renamed to Voay robustus by Brochu et al. 2007. Voay persisted into the Holocene and may have been extant when humans first settled Madagascar 2000 years ago, when it may have been a casualty of a megafaunal extinction event on the island.

Type species: Osteolaemus tetraspis COPE 1861: 550 is the type species of the genus Osteolaemus COPE 1861: 549.

Holotype: AMNH R10082: Osteoblepharon osborni Schmidt, 1919 
References
  • Barnett, Linda K. & Emms, Craig 2005. Common reptiles of The Gambia. Rare Repro, Hailsham, East Sussex, 24 pp.
  • Bocage,J.V. du B. 1866. Lista dos reptis das possessões portuguezas d'Africa occidental que existem no Museu Lisboa. Jorn. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat. Lisboa 1: 37-56
  • Böhme, Wolfgang, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Christian Brede & Philipp Wagner 2011. The reptiles (Testudines, Squamata, Crocodylia) of the forested southeast of the Republic Guinea (Guinée forestière), wit a country-wide checklist. Bonn zoological Bulletin 60 (1): 35-61 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1889. Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). British Museum, London, 311 pp.
  • Brochu, C.A. 2007. Morphology, relationships, and biogeographical significance of an extinct horned crocodile (Crocodylia, Crocodylidae) from the Quaternary of Madagascar. Zool. J. Linnean Soc. 150 (4), 835–863
  • Carlino, P. & Pauwels, O.S.G. 2015. An Updated Reptile List of Ivindo National Park, the Herpetofaunal Hotspot of Gabon. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 50(3): 25-39 - get paper here
  • Chirio, L. & Lebreton, M. 2007. Atlas des reptiles du Cameroun. MNHN, IRD, Paris 688 pp.
  • Cope, E.D. 1861. Recent species of Emydosaurian reptiles represented in the Museum of the Academy. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia1860: 549-551 - get paper here
  • Eaton, Mitchell J.;Andrew Martin, John Thorbjarnarson, George Amato 2009. Species-level diversification of African dwarf crocodiles (Genus Osteolaemus): A geographic and phylogenetic perspective. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 50 (3): 496-506 - get paper here
  • Fuchs, K., R. Mertens, and H. Wermuth. 1974. Zum Status vom Crocodylus cataphractus und Osteolaemus tetraspis. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie A (Biologie) 266: 1-8
  • Gossmann, V.; Lötters, S.; Obame, F. & Böhme, W. 2002. Zur Herpetofauna Gabuns. Teil II: Kommentierte Artenliste der gefundenen Reptilien, Bemerkungen zur Artenvielfalt. Herpetofauna 24 (136): 19-33 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1870. Note on the Black Crocodile of Africa. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (4) 6: 427 - get paper here
  • Gray,J.E. 1867. Transact. zool. Soc. London, 6: 153.
  • Helfernberger, N. 1981. Ein Beitrag zur Fortpflanzungsbiologie von Osteolaemus t. tetraspis. Herpetofauna 3 (11): 9-11 - get paper here
  • Hoogmoed, M.S. 1980. Herpetologische waarnemingen in Ghana [part 8]. Lacerta 38 (10-11): 112-116 - get paper here
  • Inger, Robert F. 1948. The systematic status of the crocodile Osteoblepharon osborni. Copeia 1948 (1): 15-19 - get paper here
  • King, F. Wayne & Burke, Russel L. 1989. Crocodilian, Tuatara, and Turtles Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Assoc. Syst. Coll., Washington, DC, xxii + 216 pp.
  • Lilljeborg, W. 1867. Description of Halcrosia afzelii, a new crocodile from Sierra Leone, West Africa. Proc. zool. Soc. London 1867: 715-718 - get paper here
  • Merchant, Mark, Shirley, Matthew H. and Watson, Charles M. 2016. Paleosuchus spp. (Dwarf Caiman) and Osteolaemus spp (Dwarf Crocodile) Defense mechanisms Herpetological Review 47 (4): 660-663
  • Miles, Lee G.; Stacey L. Lance; Sally R. Isberg; <br />Chris Moran; Travis C. Glenn 2009. Cross-species amplification of microsatellites in crocodilians: assessment and applications for the future. Conserv Genet. 10:935–954
  • Murray, A. 1862. Description of Crocodilus frontatus, a new crocodile from Old Calabar River, West Africa. Proc. zool. Soc. London 1862: 213-218 - get paper here
  • Murray, A. 1862. Description of Crocodilus frontatus, a new crocodile from Old Calabar River, West Africa. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 11: 222-227 - get paper here
  • Pauwels, O.S.G. & Vande weghe, J.P. 2008. Les reptiles du Gabon. Smithsonian Institution, Washington: 272 pp. - get paper here
  • Pauwels, O.S.G.; Kamdem Toham, A. & Chimsunchart, C. 2002. Recherches sur l’herpétofaune du Massif du Chaillu, Gabon. Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat. Belgique (Biologie) 72: 47-57 - get paper here
  • Piras, Paolo; Luciano Teresi; Angela D. Buscalioni and Jorge Cubo 2009. The shadow of forgotten ancestors differently constrains the fate of Alligatoroidea and Crocodyloidea. Global Ecology and Biogeography (Global Ecol. Biogeogr.) 18: 30–40
  • Ray, D.A.; White, P.S.; Duong, H.V.; Cullin, T.; Densmore, L.D. 2000. High levels of genetic variability in West African dwarf crocodiles Osteolaemus tetraspis tetraspis. In Crocodilian Biology and Evolution, edited by G. Grigg, F. Seebacher, and C.F. Franklin. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Roos, Jonas; Ramesh K. Aggarwal, Axel Janke 2007. Extended mitogenomic phylogenetic analyses yield new insight into crocodylian evolution and their survival of the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 45: 663–673 - get paper here
  • Ross, Franklin D. 2006. Schmidt dwarf-croc safe temporarily. Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 25(2):18
  • Ross, Franklin D. 2006. Osteolaemus syntype headcount requested. Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 25(1):21. [
  • Ross, Franklin D. 2006. African dwarf-croc quandary persists. Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 25(1):19-21. [
  • Schmidt, Karl Patterson 1919. Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo based on the Collection of the American Congo Expedition, 1909-1915. Part I: turtles, crocodiles, lizards, and chamaeleons. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 39 (2): 385-624 - get paper here
  • Sommerlad, R. 2011. Krokodile – Reptiliengiganten in Gefahr. Reptilia (Münster) 16 (87): 16-22 - get paper here
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Trape, J.F.; Trape, S. & Chirio, L. 2012. Lézards, crocodiles et tortues d'Afrique occidentale et du Sahara. IRD Orstom, 503 pp. - get paper here
  • Trutnau, L. & Sommerlad, R. 2006. Krokodile - Biologie und Haltung. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 646 pp. [review in Reptilia Münster 11 (6): 95-96]
  • Trutnau, L. & Sommerlad, R. 2006. Crocodilians. Their natural history and captive husbandry. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 646 pp. [review in Reptilia GB 48: 8-10]
  • Wermuth, H. 1953. Systematik der Rezenten Krokodile. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum im Berlin 29 (2): 375-514
  • Wermuth, H., and R. Mertens. 1961. Schildkröten, Krokodile, Brückenechsen. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena. xxvi + 422 pp.
  • Wermuth,H. & Fuchs,K. 1978. Bestimmen von Krokodilen und ihrer Häute. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart - New York, 100 pages, [ISBN 3-437-30268-X]
  • Willis, Ray E. 2009. Transthyretin gene (TTR) intron 1 elucidates crocodylian phylogenetic relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53 (3): 1049-1054 - get paper here
 
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