Mekosuchus

Chordata

Mekosuchus Temporal range: Oligocene - Holocene, 23–0.01 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Life restoration of an M. inexpectatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	Crocodylomorpha
Order:	Crocodylia
Family:	Crocodylidae
Tribe:	†Mekosuchini
Genus:	†Mekosuchus Balouet & Buffetaut, 1987
Type species
†Mekosuchus inexpectatus Balouet & Buffetaut, 1987
Species
†M. inexpectatus Balouet & Buffetaut, 1987 †M. kolpokasi †M. sanderi †M. whitehunterensis

Mekosuchus is a genus of extinct Australasian crocodiles within the subfamily Mekosuchinae. They are believed to have been made extinct by the arrival of man on the South Pacific islands where they lived^{[citation needed]}. The species of this genus were small in size and terrestrial, making them the last surviving group of terrestrial crocodilians.

Fossils of related mekosuchines, such as Trilophosuchus, have been found from Miocene Australia (the earliest known mekosuchine is the Eocene genus Kambara), though the mekosuchines had gone extinct in Australia prior to the arrival of humans. Mekosuchus survived until the Holocene, and their sub-fossils have been found in New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

Species

There are currently four species of Mekosuchus recognised. The first discovered(and youngest) is the type species M. inexpectatus from the Holocene of New Caledonia which became extinct at some point in the last 4,000 years (with the arrival of man). The poor soils of New Caledonia promote a restriction in large ground-dwelling prey, so Mekosuchus had specialized back teeth for cracking mollusk shells.

Another Holocene species is known, M. kolpokasi which lived on the island of Efate, Vanuatu approximately 3,000 years ago (again disappearing with the arrival of man).

M. whitehunterensis, the oldest known species, lived during the late Oligocene in Queensland. M. sanderi also lived in Queensland but later, during the Miocene.

See also

• Biodiversity of New Caledonia
• Holocene extinction

References

• Mead, J.I., Steadman, D.W., Bedford, S.H., Bell, C.J. & Spriggs, M. (2002). New extinct mekosuchine crocodile from Vanuatu, South Pacific. Copeia 2002 (3): 632-641

Bibliography

The Future Eaters by Tim Flannery.