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25 September 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
Christopher M. Murray, Peter Russo, Alexander Zorrilla, Caleb D. McMahan
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Abstract

The freshwater crocodile inhabiting Papua New Guinea, currently recognized as Crocodylus novaeguineae, exhibits morphological, molecular, and ecological divergence between the northern and southern versants of the Central Highlands and occupies separate evolutionary trajectories. A robust body of work has long encouraged the formal description of New Guinea crocodiles from the southern versant of the highlands as a distinct lineage with a taxonomy that reflects diagnosed relationships. Here, we use geometric morphometric techniques to assess cranial shape variation between specimens from both versants and add to the diagnostic evidence supporting a more accurate taxonomy. Further, herein, we formally describe the southern variant as a distinct lineage (Hall's New Guinea Crocodile; Crocodylus halli, new species).

© 2019 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Christopher M. Murray, Peter Russo, Alexander Zorrilla, and Caleb D. McMahan "Divergent Morphology among Populations of the New Guinea Crocodile, Crocodylus novaeguineae (Schmidt, 1928): Diagnosis of an Independent Lineage and Description of a New Species," Copeia 107(3), 517-523, (25 September 2019). https://doi.org/10.1643/CG-19-240
Received: 23 May 2019; Accepted: 8 August 2019; Published: 25 September 2019
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