Overview
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Interesting Facts
- Crocodilians are carnivores and are nocturnal . During the day they often lie at the water's edge in large numbers, sunning themselves. At night they retreat to the water, where they live solitary lives and establish individual territories.
- Crocodiles and alligators are most at home in the water but are able to travel on land by sliding on their bellies, stepping along with their legs extended, or galloping awkwardly. Large adults can stay underwater for over an hour without breathing. They swim primarily by snakelike movements of their bodies and by powerful strokes of their muscular, oarlike tails, which are also effective weapons.
- A crocodile can also open its mouth when in the water due to a special valve in its throat . It allows the jaws to open without allowing water to move down the throat. When crocodiles float in the water, they leave only their nostrils, eyes, and ears above the surface. Their eyes can be covered with semitransparent membranes , much like a third eyelid and the ears and nostrils can be closed over by folds of skin .
- Young crocodiles eat worms and insects. As they mature , they add frogs , tadpoles , and fishes to their diets . Older crocodilians are nocturnal and solitary and feed on other vertebrate animals as well as fish. The dwarf crocodile kills its prey and devours it immediately. Animals that are too large to be swallowed whole are either torn to pieces or are drowned and permitted to decay in burrows.
- The dwarf crocodile forms a land home by burrowing. The dwelling has only two passageways; one for entering and one for exiting. These burrows, which are dug at or just above the waterline, can extend for many feet and eventually end in a den , or chamber. The alligators hibernate in these burrows during cold weather. The dwarf crocodile female usually lays a clutch of less than 20 eggs . The eggs are placed in a mound of vegetation the female will assemble. The female will guard the nest and raise the young.
Common Names
Click on the language to view common names.
Common Names in English:
African Dwarf Crocodile, Broad-Nosed Crocodile, Dwarf Crocodile, Dwarf Crocodile, West African Dwarf Crocodile, Broad-Nosed Crocodile, West African Dwarf Crocodile
Common Names in French:
Crocodile à Front Large, Crocodile à Nuque Cuirassée, Crocodile Nain Africain
Common Names in German:
Stumpfkrokodil
Common Names in Russian:
Крокодил западноафриканский карликовый
Description
Physical Description
Species Osteolaemus tetraspis
The muzzle
of the dwarf
crocodile is broad, blunt
, and short; hence the name
"Broadfronted." It measures at about 1.20 meters in length
; however, some have reached lengths of 1.50-1.80 meters. The dwarf crocodile gets its name because it is the smallest of all crocodiles. With the largest crocodile reaching lengths of 27 feet and weigh up to a ton
, it is easy to see how a crocodile of about 3 feet could be dubbed "dwarf."
Like all crocodiles, the dwarf has rigid
teeth and tough scales
, which cover
the body. During early years of existence, the dwarf crocodile is yellow with a brown tint. The infant dwarf crocodile also has black spots
on its belly and back. However, with age, the dwarf crocodile grows to resemble other forms of crocodiles in color. By maturity, the dwarf crocodile is dark brown or black. The scales become harder and the bony palates
that protect the back are more dense.
Habitat
Fresh water slow-moving rivers , lakes , swamps , and marshes of West Africa.
Biome: Terrestrial ; Freshwater
Ecology: Terrestial nest sites and basking areas.[1]
Biology
Diet
Fish, birds, crustaceans, and small land vertebrates .
Taxonomy
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
)
- animals
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Chordates
- Class:
Reptilia
()
- Reptiles
- Order:
Crocodylia
()
- Family:
Crocodylidae (Crocodylia
()
- Genus:
Osteolaemus
()
- Cope, 1861
- Specific name:
tetraspis
- Cope
- Scientific name: - Osteolaemus tetraspis Cope
- Specific name:
tetraspis
- Cope
- Genus:
Osteolaemus
(
- Family:
Crocodylidae (Crocodylia
(
- Order:
Crocodylia
(
- Class:
Reptilia
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
Unambiguous Synonyms
- Crocodilus frontatus Murray 1862: 213
- Crocodilus frontatus Murray 1862: 222
- Halcrosia afzelii Lilljeborg 1867
- Halcrosia afzelii Lilljeborg 1867: 715
- Halcrosia nigra Gray 1867
- Halcrosia nigra Gray 1870: 428
- Osteoblepharon osborni Schmidt 1919: 421
- Osteolaemus tetraspis Spawls Et Al. 2001
- Osteolaemus tetraspis tetraspis Wermuth and Mertens 1961
- Osteolaemus tetraspis Boulenger 1889
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Uetz P.
Similar Species
Alligators and crocodiles are easily confused and exhibit several major physical differences. Alligators have broader heads and blunter snouts. Their lower teeth fit inside the edge of the upper jaw and cannot be seen when the lipless mouth is closed. The crocodile's fourth tooth in each side of the lower jaw is located lying in a notch in the upper jaw and is always visible. The teeth are used for seizing and holding prey instead of for chewing. They are replaced continuously as new ones grow up, forcing old ones out.
There are two subspecies of the Dwarf crocodile. The West African Dwarf crocodile or Osteolaemus tetraspis inhabits the forest areas of Liberia, Calabar, Cameroon, Sierra Lenone and Gaboon. Paul du Chaillu discovered this subspecies. The snout of this subspecies appears swollen. The Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni hails from the upper Congo region and can be found mainly in the Ituri Forest. This subspecies lacks the swollen appearance of the Broadface.
Members of the genus Osteolaemus
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 5 species and subspecies in this genus:
O. tetrapis · O. tetrapsis · O. tetraspis (West African Dwarf Crocodile) · O. tetraspis osborni (West African Dwarf Crocodile) · O. tetraspis tetraspis
More Info
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- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Annalen des K.K. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums. Wien: Alfred Hlder, 1886-1917. GER url p. 28.
- Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Wien, Naturhistorisches Museum [etc.] GER url p. 28.
- Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. ENG url p. 100, p. 103, p. 112, p. 125, p. 155, p. 157, p. 158, p. 72, p. 82, p. 98.
- Biologisches Zentralblatt. Leipzig [etc.]VEB Georg Thieme [etc.] GER url p. 742.
- Boulenger (1889) Cat. Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, Crocodiles.
- Brehms Tierleben: allgemeine Kunde des Tierreichs / von A.E. Brehm; mit etwa 2000 Abbildungen im Text, ©ber 500 Tafeln in Farbendruck, Kupfer©Þtzung und Holzschnitt und 13 Karten. Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut, 1911-1921. GER url p. 547.
- Cope (1861) Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia1860: 549-551
- Crocodile Specialist Group. For more information, see the Specialist Group website
- David Nicolson - ITIS Data Development Coordinator: Listed as Endangered under U.S. Endangered Species Act
- Fuchs et al. (1974) Stuttgarter Beitrge zur Naturkunde. Serie A (Biologie) 266: 1-8
- Gossmann et al. (2002) Herpetofauna 24 (136): 19-33
- Gray (1867) Transact. zool. Soc. London, 6: 153.
- Gray (1870) Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (4) 6: 427
- Groombridge, B. 1982. The IUCN Amphibia-Reptilia Red Data Book, Part 1: Testudines, Crocodylia, Rhynocehapalia. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
- Handwörterbuch der naturwissenschaften / hrsg. von prof. dr. E. Korschelt (zoologie) prof. dr. G. Linck (mineralogie und geologie) prof. dr. F. Oltmanns (botanik) prof. dr. K. Schaum (chemie) prof. dr. H. Th. Simon (physi Jena: G. Fischer, 1912-1915. GER url p. 893.
- Helfernberger (1981) Herpetofauna 3 (11): 9-11
- Herp©tologie d'Angola et du Congo; ouvrage publi© sous les auspices du Minist©·re de la marine et des colonies, par J.V. Barboza du Bocage, professeur de zoologie © l'©?cole polytechnique, directeur du Mus©um national de Lisbonne. Lisbonne, Impr. nationale, 1895. FRE url p. 195, p. 9.
- Hoogmoed (1980) Lacerta 38 (10-11): 112-116
- Inger (1948) Copeia 1948:15-19
- IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1986. 1986 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
- Lilljeborg (1867) Proc. zool. Soc. London, 1867: 715.
- Murray (1862) Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 11: 222-227
- Murray (1862) Proc. zool. Soc. London, 1862: 213.
- Occasional papers of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas. Lawrence, Kansas: The University, 1971-1994. ENG url p. 15.
- Pauwels et al. (2002) Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat. Belgique (Biologie) 72: 47-57
- Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. [Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia] ENG url p. 549, p. 550.
- Ray et al. (2000) Surrey Beatty and Sons, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Ross (2006) Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 25(1):19-21. [
- Schmidt (1919) Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 39 (2): 385-624
- The University of Kansas science bulletin. [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. ENG url p. 1194.
- Wermuth & Fuchs (1978) Bestimmen Krokodilen Hute.
- Wermuth & Mertens (1961) Schildkrten, Krokodile, Brckenechsen.
- Wermuth, H. and R. Mertens 1961. Schildkroten, Krokodile Bruckenechsen. VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena. Germany.
- Zoologischer Anzeiger. Jena, VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag. GER url p. 383.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 4, 2006.
- Clark, M. A. WhoZoo.
- Crocodile Specialist Group 1996. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
- Crocodile Specialist Group 1996. Osteolaemus tetraspis. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. and lt;www.iucnredlist.org and gt;. Downloaded on 20 October 2006.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 4 providers.
- Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:
- GBIF-Sweden: Herpetology (NRM)
- Marine Science Institute, UCSB: Paleobiology Database
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
- Yale University Peabody Museum: Peabody Herp Collection DiGIR provider Service
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2543181
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-23027 Rep-23026
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 202205
- IUCN ID: 15635
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Species Identifier: C010
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 412431
Footnotes
- Crocodile Specialist Group 1996. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008. [back]
Curator for this page: Marco de Andrade. Date last reviewed: 1899-12-30
