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Osteolaemus osborni
Conservation status
CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauromorpha
Clade:	Archosauriformes
Order:	Crocodilia
Family:	Crocodylidae
Genus:	Osteolaemus
Species:	O. osborni
Binomial name
Osteolaemus osborni Schmidt, 1919
Synonyms
Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni

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

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, but was revalidated to full species status in 2021.

The specific name, osborni, is in honor of American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.

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).

v t e Extant Crocodilian species
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia (unranked): Archosauria Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Family Alligatoridae (Alligators and caimans) Alligatorinae (Alligators) Alligator American alligator (A. mississippiensis) Chinese alligator (A. sinensis) Caimaninae (Caimans) Caiman Spectacled caiman (C. crocodilus) Broad-snouted caiman (C. latirostris) Yacare caiman (C. yacare) Melanosuchus Black caiman (M. niger) Paleosuchus Cuvier's dwarf caiman (P. palpebrosus) Smooth-fronted caiman (P. trigonatus)
Family Crocodylidae (True crocodiles) Crocodylinae Crocodylus American crocodile (C. acutus) Hall's New Guinea crocodile (C. halli) Orinoco crocodile (C. intermedius) Freshwater crocodile (C. johnstoni) Philippine crocodile (C. mindorensis) Morelet's crocodile (C. moreletii) Nile crocodile (C. niloticus) New Guinea crocodile (C. novaeguineae) Mugger crocodile (C. palustris) Saltwater crocodile (C. porosus) Borneo crocodile (C. raninus) Cuban crocodile (C. rhombifer) Siamese crocodile (C. siamensis) West African crocodile (C. suchus) Osteolaeminae Mecistops West African slender snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus) Central African slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops leptorhynchus) Osteolaemus Dwarf crocodile (O. tetraspis) Osborn’s dwarf crocodile (O. osborni)
Family Gavialidae Gavialis Gharial (G. gangeticus) Tomistoma False gharial (T. schlegelii)
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