Crocodylus palustris ( Lesson, 1831 )

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 258-259

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5287.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:78E23714-8973-4755-BC94-0A751D7D2B37

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7968210

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/88502B73-FE9B-B974-FF6B-41C67AFA0DD6

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Crocodylus palustris ( Lesson, 1831 )
status

 

Crocodylus palustris ( Lesson, 1831) View in CoL — Erroneous.

Mugger Crocodile

Singapore records.

Crocodilus trigonops — Gray, 1844: vii, 62, 63.

Crocodilus palustris — Boulenger, 1889a: 286.— Flower, 1896: 862.— Flower, 1899: 625.—Ridley, 1899: 189.— Boulenger, 1912: 5.

Bombifrons siamensis (non-Schneider, 1801)— Gray, 1867: 144.— Gray, 1872: 13.

Bombifrons indicus — Gray, 1873: 102.

Bombifrons siamensis var.— Gray, 1873: 103.

Remarks. Crocodylus palustris ranges from Iran east to Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Myanmar ( da Silva & Lenin 2010). Gray (1844) first listed C. palustris as occurring in Singapore based on a young, stuffed specimen at NHMUK. Cantor (1847a) described C. palustris from Penang, but it is believed he confused it with C. porosus ( Flower 1899; Boulenger 1912). In his account of C. palustris, Ģnther (1864) only mentioned specimens from India and Sri Lanka, but did not discuss the species purported presence in southeast Asia. Shortly thereafter ( Boulenger 1912), the presence of C. palustris in southeast Asia was discontinued, first by Flower (1914) who stated that “[n]o absolutely unimpeachable evidence appears to exist of its occurrence in the Malay Peninsula or Archipelago” and by Smith (1930, 1931) who delimited its distribution to the Indian Subcontinent. No other publication references the C. palustris specimen from Singapore, and furthermore, there are three additional specimens from 1910 stored at MCZ that have Singapore as locality, but with a question mark. Thus, the only explanation must be that the specimens were traded in Singapore or the locality is incorrect (Pocklington 2021).

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): BMNH (no #) (no date).

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): MCZ.

MCZ

Museum of Comparative Zoology

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Crocodylia

Family

Crocodylidae

Genus

Crocodylus

Loc

Crocodylus palustris ( Lesson, 1831 )

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P. 2023
2023
Loc

Crocodilus palustris

Boulenger, G. A. 1912: 5
Flower, S. S. 1899: 625
Flower, S. S. 1896: 862
Boulenger, G. A. 1889: 286
1889
Loc

Bombifrons indicus

Gray, J. E. 1873: 102
1873
Loc

Bombifrons siamensis

Gray, J. E. 1873: 103
1873
Loc

Bombifrons siamensis

Gray, J. E. 1872: 13
Gray, J. 1867: 144
1867
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