Fossil Crocodilians from the Late Tertiary Strata in the Sinda Basin, Eastern Zaire

Abstract

At least five crocodilian taxa could be recognized form the fragmental fossils obtained form the late Miocene to early Pliocene sediments of the Sinda basin, Haut-Zaire, Zaire. The first fossil record of Osteolaemus, the genus of extant dwarf crocodile, is evidenced by the two mandibular fragments. These fossil specimens are much larger than both extant species, but their mandibular morphology is more resembles that of the Central African species, O. osborni, rather than that of the West African species, O. tetraspis. Some other fossils could be identified as the remains of Crocodylus (Crocodile), Mecistops (african Long-nosed Crocodile or Senegal Gavial), Euthecodon (highly longirostral fossil form) and a highly longirostral form that lacks the remark of Euthecodon.