Osteolaeminae
Osteolaeminae, meaning "bone", and λαιμός is a subfamily of true crocodiles within the family Crocodylidae containing the dwarf crocodiles and slender-snouted crocodiles, and is the sister taxon to Crocodylinae.
Taxonomy
Osteolaeminae was named by Christopher Brochu in 2003 as a subfamily of Crocodylidae separate from Crocodylinae, and is cladistically defined as Osteolaemus tetraspis and all crocodylians more closely related to it than to Crocodylus niloticus. This is a stem-based definition, and is the sister taxon to Crocodylinae. Osteolaeminae contains the two extant genera Osteolaemus and Mecistops, along with several extinct genera, although the number of extant species within Osteolaeminae is currently in question.Phylogeny
The cladogram below is based on two studies that combined morphological, molecular, and stratigraphic data. Recently recognised species placed according to 2023 study by Sales-Oliveira et al.Alternatively, other morphological studies have recovered Mecistops as a basal member of Crocodylinae, more closely related to Crocodylus than to Osteolaemus and the other members of Osteolaeminae, as shown in the cladogram below.
Species list
Subfamily Osteolaeminae- * Genus Osteolaemus
- ** Osteolaemus osborni, Osborn's dwarf crocodile
- ** Osteolaemus tetraspis, dwarf crocodile
- * Genus Mecistops
- **Mecistops cataphractus, West African slender-snouted crocodile
- ** Mecistops leptorhynchus, Central African slender-snouted crocodile
- * Genus Brochuchus
- ** Brochuchus pigotti
- ** Brochuchus parvidens
- * Genus Euthecodon
- ** Euthecodon nitriae
- ** Euthecodon brumpti
- ** Euthecodon arambourgi
- * Genus Rimasuchus
- ** ''Rimasuchus lloydi''