Diplocynodon darwini LUDWIG, 1877

Taxonomy

Alligator

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia Laurenti 1768
Order: Crocodilia Owen 1842
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Diplocynodon
Species: Diplocynodon darwini
Author Citation LUDWIG, 1877

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Cenozoic
Period: Paleogene
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Eocene
International Age: Lutetian

Stratigraphy

Messel Formation

Provenance

Collector: T. Bastelberger
Date Collected: 06/01/1970
Acquired by: Field Collection

Dimensions

Length: 26 cm

Location

Messel Pit
Messel near Darmstadt
Hessia
Germany

• alligator
• diplocynodon
• eocene
• lutetian
• messel
• tff-oilshale-ch679

Comments

Prepped by transfer method.

For about 30 years, I wasn't sure whether this juvenile crocodile was Diplocynodon darwini or Allognathosuchus haupti. Dr. Alex Hastings from the Virginia Museum of Natural History was so kind to determine it: 

"It looks to me like a young Diplocynodon darwini.  I say D. darwini instead of D. deponiae mostly because of the general lack of osteoderms on the tail and legs.
Allognathosuchus has more of a round snout/head, and even at this size would look more mature.  The fenestrae at the back of the skull are still fairly oblong and the eyes are overly large, indicating a pretty young individual, maybe a year or two old. It looks a lot like several of the young D. darwini we had from Geiseltal, which overlaps in age and environment with Messel."

 

References:

Ludwig, R. (1877) Fossile Crocodiliden aus der Tertiärformation des Mainzer Beckens. Palaeontographica, Supplement 4 (5), 1-52.
Rossmann, T. & Blume, M. (1999): Die Krokodilfauna der Grube Messel, Natur und Museum, Vol 129, p. 261-270.
Hastings, A.K. and M. Hellmund (2015): Rare in situ preservation of adult crocodylian with eggs from the Middle Eocene of Geiseltal, Germany. Palaios, 30(6):446–461.
Rio, J. P., Mannion, P. D. Tschopp, E., Martin, J. E.,  and Delfino. M. (2020) Reappraisal of the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the alligatoroid crocodylian Diplocynodon hantoniensis from the late Eocene of the United Kingdom. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 188:579-629.