Osteolaemus Cope, 1861

Marques, Mariana P., Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Blackburn, David C. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2018, Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840 - 2017), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65, pp. 1-501 : 176-177

Genus Osteolaemus Cope, 1861

Osteolaemus tetraspis Cope, 1861 AFRICAN DWARF CROCODILE

Osteolaemus tetraspis (Cope 1861:549) . Syntypes: not located fide King and Burke (1989:14) (collector P. B. Du Chaillu [skin]; donation from Museum of the Pennsylvania University [skull of a half-grown individual]). Type locality: “Ogobai River, Western Africa” (Cope 1861:550) [= Ogooué River ], Gabon .

Crocodylus frontatus : Bocage (1866a:41), Peters (1877a:611).

Crocodylus tetraspis : Bocage (1895a:9), Frade (1963:252), Grigg and Kirshner (2015:12).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Vulnerable.

Global distribution: Osteolaemus tetraspis sensu lato is known from across the tropical lowland regions of sub-Saharan West Africa and West Central Africa, from Senegal to the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Osteolaemus tetraspis sensu stricto (see Notes below) occus south of the Cameroon Volcanic Line and primarily west of the Congo Basin.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 123): This species occurs in Cabinda enclave and in the north of the country, although all published records come from Cabinda alone. Cabinda:

“Chinchoxo” [-5.10000, 12.10000] ( Peters

1877a:611; Bocage 1895a:252); “ Rio Quilo”

[-5.18333, 12.18333] ( Bocage 1866a:41,

1895a:9); “ Zona de Cabinda ” [-5.55000,

12.18333] ( Frade 1963:252).

Taxonomic and distributional notes:

The taxonomy of the African dwarf crocodile,

Osteolaemus tetraspis has been under debate for many years (Eaton et al. 2008). The species was first described by Cope 1861, from the

Ogooué Basin. A second dwarf crocodile genus, Osteoblepharon was proposed by

Schmidt (1919) but regarded as a synonym of

Osteolaemus by Mertens (1943) and Inger MAP 123. Distribution of Osteolaemus tetraspis in Angola.

(1948). Eaton et al. (2008) revealed that the genus Osteolaemus contains at least three distinct species: O. tetraspis from the greater Ogooué Basin (including Gabon, portions of Cameroon and southwest Congo), O. osborni ( Schmidt, 1919) from the Congo Basin, and a putative new species from West Africa. However, Franke et al. (2013) considered O. osborni as a subspecies of tetraspis . In Angola the species is confirmed only from Cabinda, which agrees with the current known distribution presented by Grigg and Kirshner (2015).