Osteolaemus osborni, commonly known as Osborn's dwarf crocodile, is a species of crocodile endemic to the Congo Basin in Africa.
| Osteolaemus osborni | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Clade: | Archosauriformes |
| Order: | Crocodilia |
| Family: | Crocodylidae |
| Genus: | Osteolaemus |
| Species: | O. osborni
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| Binomial name | |
| Osteolaemus osborni Schmidt, 1919
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| Synonyms | |
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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 specific name, osborni, is in honor of American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
- ^ Wermuth, H. & R. Mertens (1961). Schildkröten, Krokodile, Brückenechsen. Veb Gustav Fischer Verlag.
- ^ Osteolaemus osborni at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 22 September 2021.
- ^ 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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