Crocodylus hallii Murray &amp; Russo &amp; Zorrilla &amp; McMahan 2019, new species
Creators: name: Murray, Christopher M.
name: Russo, Peter
name: Zorrilla, Alexander
name: McMahan, Caleb D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Crocodylia
Crocodylidae
Crocodylus
Crocodylus hallii

description: <i>Crocodylus halli&amp;imath;</i> new species urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 2B819FD7-B74C-42B4-A85B- 7D4B93 D96105 Hall’s New Guinea Crocodile Figure 7 <i>Holotype.—</i> USNM 211290, Papua New Guinea, Western Province, Balimo, Aramia River Lagoon, – 8.00589 S, 142.938 E, Charles A. Ross, 27 November 1977 [skull with mandibles; sex unknown] (Fig. 7). <i>Paratypes.—</i> LSUMZ 44734, Papua New Guinea, Western Province, Lake Murray District, Agu River, Philip Hall, 14 January 1981 [skull; female]; LSUMZ 44735, Papua New Guinea, Western Province, Lake Murray District, Lake Murray, Philip Hall, 14 January 1980 [skull; sex unknown]; USNM 211298, Papua New Guinea, Western Province, Balimo, Aramia River Lagoon, – 8.00589 S, 142.938 E, Charles A. Ross, 27 November 1977 [skull with mandibles; sex unknown]. <i>Non-type material.—</i> LSUMZ 44722–44732, 44734–44738, 44740–44746, UF 145927, 24, Lake Murray District; MCZ 153039–153040, 2, Binaturi River; USNM 211290, 211293, 211294, 211296, 211298, 211300–211301, 7, Aramia. <i> <i>Diagnosis.—</i> Crocodylus halli</i> is readily separated from <i>C. novaeguineae</i> based on a longer frontal bone (versus shorter in <i>C. novaeguineae</i>); a shorter maxilla and nasal (versus longer in <i>C. novaeguineae</i>); long and wide postorbital and squamosal (versus short and narrow in <i>C. novaeguineae</i>); and a wider palatine of pterygoid that extends posteriorly (versus narrow and medially oriented in <i>C. novaeguineae</i>). Additionally, <i>C. halli</i> possesses no more than four non-contiguous postoccipital scutes, versus four to six contiguous post-occipital scutes in <i>C. novaeguineae</i>. <i>Species description and variation.—</i> Variation in morphology of adult <i>Crocodylus halli</i> exists among drainages, with specimens from Lake Murray exhibiting a skull width that is more than half of the skull length (posteromedial squamosal to anteromedial premaxilla), resulting in the Fig. 6. appearance of a stocky and wide head in adults. Specimens from Aramia River have generally longer maxilla and shorter postcranial elements than Lake Murray individuals, while maintaining shorter maxilla and longer postcranial elements than <i>C. novaeguineae</i>. Juveniles retain morphology consistent with ontogenetic constraints, exhibiting a relatively enlarged orbit and compressed postcranial elements. <i> <i>Distribution.—</i> Crocodylus halli</i> occurs within drainages south of the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea in swamps, rivers, lakes, and occasionally estuaries. <i>Natural history.—</i> Females of <i>C. halli</i> nest in the rainy season (November–April) and lay larger eggs in smaller clutches than <i>C. novaeguineae,</i> which nests near end of the dry season (July– November; Cox, 1985; Hall, 1985; Hall and Johnson, 1987). <i>Etymology.—</i> The specific epithet recognizes the fieldwork and research of Philip Hall whose contributions provided the initial framework for supporting distinctiveness of this species.
description: Published as part of <i>Murray, Christopher M., Russo, Peter, Zorrilla, Alexander &amp; McMahan, Caleb D., 2019, Divergent Morphology among Populations of the New Guinea Crocodile, Crocodylus novaeguineae (Schmidt, 1928): Diagnosis of an Independent Lineage and Description of a New Species, pp. 517-523 in Copeia 107 (3)</i> on pages 521-522, DOI: 10.1643/CG-19-240, http://zenodo.org/record/3470264
description: {"references": ["Cox, J. 1985. Crocodile nesting ecology in Papua New Guinea. Field Doc. No. 5. FAO proj. PNG / 74 / 029. Assistance to the crocodile skin industry. FAO, Rome.", "Hall, P. M. 1985. Embryo growth curves as a method of determining the age of clutches of New Guinea crocodiles (Crocodylus novaeguineae). Journal of Herpetology 19: 538 - 541.", "Hall, P. M., and D. R. Johnson. 1987. Nesting biology of Crocodylus novaeguineae in Lake Murray District, Papua New Guinea. Herpetologica 43: 249 - 258."]}