Publication details
Occurrence of Diplocynodon ratelii (Crocodylia) in the Czech Republic
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Citation | |
| Description | The Early Miocene deposits of the Bohemian area in the Czech Republic contain a lot of fragmentary remains of fossil crocodilians. Despite this wealth, the absence of complete and well-preserved cranial remains have meant that a confident taxonomical assessment of these findings, traditionally reffered to the family Diplocynodontidae, has been elusive. Nonetheless, we report the first almost complete skull (UW6526A1-A4), osteoderms (UW6526A2,3) and isolated vertebra (UW6526A5) from Northwest Bohemia (Most Basin), housed at the paleontological collections of the University of Vienna. These specimens were recovered during the 19th century – but never described – from an unknown locality within the basin. They are attributed to the extinct alligatoroid genus Diplocynodon, which includes nowadays nine valid species from the Tertiary of Europe. Our comparisons were based on two alligatoroid taxa: the type species Diplocynodon ratelii from the MN2 of SaintGérand-le-Puy (France) and the recently described remains from the MN4 of Els Casots (Spain), as well as Diplocynodon ungeri from the MN5 of Schönegg (Austria). According to the cranial features, they are assigned to Diplocynodon ratelii, which is currently the only taxonomically valid species from the Early Miocene of Europe. Concerning the paleoecology, the occurrence of this crocodilian implies that permanent water masses were present, as well as a relatively high mean temperature. Furthermore, the studied remains represent the first report of Diplocyndon ratelii in the Czech Republic, and open the door to discuss the geographical and temporal distribution of this species in Central Europe. |