Osteolaemus osborni

Osteolaemus osborni, commonly known as Osborn's dwarf crocodile, is a species of crocodile endemic to the Congo Basin in Africa.

Osteolaemus osborni
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Crocodylidae
Genus: Osteolaemus
Species:
O. osborni
Binomial name
Osteolaemus osborni
Schmidt, 1919
Synonyms
  • Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni

This species has had a somewhat convoluted taxonomical history. It was first described as Osteoblepharon osborni by Schmidt in 1919, based on a few specimens from the Upper Congo River Basin in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, Inger in a 1948 paper found the specimens wanting of characteristics that would justify a generic separation from Osteolaemus and referred the specimens to Osteolaemus osborni. In 1961, it was reduced to subspecies rank,[2] but was revalidated to full species status in 2021.[3]

The subspecific name, osborni, is in honor of American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.[4]

References
  1. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  2. Wermuth, H. & R. Mertens (1961). Schildkröten, Krokodile, Brückenechsen. Veb Gustav Fischer Verlag.
  3. Osteolaemus osborni at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 22 September 2021.
  4. Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins; Michael Grayson (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Osteolaemus osborni, p. 196).


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