Diplocynodon

Diplocynodon is an extinct genus of alligatoroid that lived during the Paleocene to middle Miocene in Europe. It looked very similar to the modern caiman in that it was small and had bony armour scutes covering its neck, back, belly, and tail. The longest Diplocynodon recovered was 4 feet in length and probably fed on small fish, frogs, and took insects when young.

Diplocynodon Temporal range: Paleocene–Middle Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Diplocynodon ratelii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Crocodilia
Subfamily:	†Diplocynodontinae
Genus:	†Diplocynodon Pomel, 1847
Species
†D. dalpiazi Del Favero, 1999 †D. darwini (Ludvig, 1877) †D. elavericus Martin, 2010 †D. gervaisi †D. hantoniensis (Wood, 1846) †D. muelleri (Kälin, 1936) †D. ratelii Pomel, 1847 (type) †D. tormis †D. ungeri (Prangner, 1845) ?†D. deponiae (Frey, Laemmert & Riess, 1987)[1]
Synonyms
?Baryphracta Frey, Laemmert & Riess, 1987[1] Enneodon Pranger, 1845 ?Hispanochampsa Kälin, 1936 Saurocainus

In the nineteenth century, D. steineri was named from Styria, Austria and D. styriacus was named from Austria and France. A third Austrian species, Enneodon ungeri, was placed in its own genus. The Austrian and French species of Diplocynodon were synonymized with E. ungeri in 2011, and because the name Diplocynodon has priority over Enneodon, the species is now called D. ungeri. [2]

Well preserved specimens have been found in the Messel Pit and the Geiseltal lignite deposit in Germany. Most articulated Diplocynodon specimens from these localities contain gastroliths. In the Eocene epoch, the German sites were either a swampy freshwater lake (Messel Pit) or a peat bog swamp (Geiseltal).

Species

Species
Species	Age	Location	Unit	Notes	Images
D. dalpiazi	Late Rupelian	Italy	Monteviale		D. darwini from Messel pit, Hesse, Germany, 48 million years old Skull of D. hantoniensis Diplocynodon cf. ratelii
D. darwini	Lutetian	Germany	Messel pit	All specimens are from Messel pit of Germany. Synonyms are: D. ebertsi and D. hallense.
D. elavericus[3]	Middle Priabonian	France	Domérat	All specimens came from Allier, Massif Central of France.
D. gervaisi	Earliest Rupelian	France	Ronzon	Synonyms are: Saurocainus gervaisi.
D. hantoniensis	Early Priabonian	United Kingdom	Headon Hill Formation	All specimens came from Hordwell, southern England. D. cf. hantoniensis is known from the Oligocene of Dordogne, France.
D. muelleri[4]	Middle Rupelian	Spain	El Talladell	More than 100 are known, all from Lleida Province, Catalonia. Synonyms are: Hispanochampsa muelleri, D. guerini and D. marini.
D. ratelii	Middle Aquitanian* Late Eocene to Early Miocene	France	Saint-Gérand-le-Puy*	D. ratelii is the type species of Diplocynodon. Most of the specimens came from Allier, Massif Central of France. Synonyms are: D. gracile.
D. tormis	Late Bartonian	Spain	Salamanca
D. ungeri[2]	Middle Miocene	Austria*  France	Pannonian Basin* Paris Basin	Synonyms are: Enneodon ungeri, D. steineri, and D. styriacus (see text).

*Locality and/or horizon of the type specimen.

Phylogeny

Cladogram based on Martin, 2010:[3]

Alligatoroidea	Leidyosuchus       Globidonta   Diplocynodontidae   Baryphracta   Diplocynodon   D. darwini         D. hantoniensis     D. ratelii         D. elavericus       D. muelleri     D. tormis

References

1. Massimo Delfino and Thierry Smith (2012). "Reappraisal of the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the middle Eocene alligatoroid Diplocynodon deponiae (Frey, Laemmert, and Riess, 1987) based on a three-dimensional specimen". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (6): 1358–1369. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.699484.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
2. Jeremy E. Martin and Martin Gross (2011). "Taxonomic clarification of Diplocynodon Pomel, 1847 (Crocodilia) from the Miocene of Styria, Austria". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 261 (2): 177–193. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2011/0159.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
3. Jeremy E. Martin (2010). "A new species of Diplocynodon (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) from the Late Eocene of the Massif Central, France, and the evolution of the genus in the climatic context of the Late Palaeogene". Geological Magazine. 147 (4): 596–610. doi:10.1017/S0016756809990161.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
4. Paolo Pirasa and Angela D. Buscalionib (2006). "Diplocynodon muelleri comb. nov., an Oligocene diplocynodontine alligatoroid from Catalonia (Ebro Basin, Lleida Province, Spain)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (3): 608–620. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[608:DMCNAO]2.0.CO;2.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

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