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RE: There is a population of dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis) in Gabon that live their entire lives inside a cave, and has orange skin because of acidic bat guano
Interesting article @valth so are they actually classifying it as a sub-species of the main dwarf crocodile family given is mild genetic variation and living conditions, or are the keeping it in the same genus as the other non cave dwelling relatives?
Thanks for a great question, @robmenzies!
As of right now they are just considered a population of the dwarf crocodiles. However, their DNA is absolutely different enough to classify them as their own subspecies, and some scientists even argue that they should be a species of their own. The reason why they are not classified as their own subspecies is because of lack of published knowledge about them, so I expect this to change at one point in the future. I hope this made things clear, but let me know if you want more details ;)
Best regards from @valth
Thanks @valth for the clarification.
given that they look completely different from the picture you posted and completely different habitats i would tend to think that they should be their own species.
If my mind serves me well i remember watching on National Geographic several years ago on one of those island of snakes that had the island divided in two by a range of mountains that there two distinct species of snakes on the island, despite no new snakes being able to come to the island. I suspect Darwinistic evolution at its best.
Yeah, I would prefer them to be two separate species as well, but there are a few things that needs to be clarified first. For starters, if any of the crocodiles within the cave ever comes outside and breed with the non-cave crocodiles, then it no longer makes any sense to refer to them as their own species.
That's a good example of specification where one species evolved into two distinct species. This is a common way for species to develop, but it can be pretty difficult to determine and agree upon at which point we should consider them a new species.
Seems like a good job for the block chain tag and release them all with RFID and see if any venture for the cave.
Hehe, yeah, that would be interesting!