New Caledonia crocodile
| New Caledonia crocodile | ||||||||||||
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Lower jaw of Mekosuchus inexpectatus |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Mekosuchus inexpectatus | ||||||||||||
| Balouet & Buffetaut , 1987 |
The New Caledonia crocodile ( Mekosuchus inexpectatus ) is an extinct species of crocodile (Crocodylia). It was a land crocodile that was endemic to New Caledonia .
features
Mekosuchus inexpectatus was described in 1980 on the basis of skeletal remains as the only representative of the Mekosuchidae. These were fossils from karst caves on the island of Île des Pins with an estimated age of 3,500 to 3,900 years and on New Caledonia itself with an age of only around 1,600 to 1,800 years. Human involvement in the extinction of the animals is assumed due to the discovery of a lower jaw in a clam pile on the west coast of New Caledonia.
The animals reached a length of about two meters and were thus the largest reptiles in their range after representatives of the genus Meiolania . The skull was significantly higher than that of the amphibious species and the nostrils were in front and opened laterally at the tip of the snout. A unique feature among crocodiles is the involvement of the upper jawbone ( maxillary ) in the bony orbital ring. They share other skull features with representatives of the early Mesoeucrocodylia , others with those of the modern crocodiles ( Eusuchia ).
Way of life
The New Caledonia crocodile lived in the lowland areas of the islands and was one of the few terrestrial crocodiles that humans encountered , along with Volia athollandersoni from the Fiji Islands (also a Mekosuchian) and Mekosuchus kalpokasi from Vanuatu . This could be deduced mainly from the position of the nostrils, which were on the side of the skull, as well as from the structure of the extremities and their muscle attachments. The animal probably fed mainly on snails . The extinction of the species is explained by intensive hunting, which led to extinction long before the arrival of the first Europeans.
literature
- Charles A. Ross (Ed.): Crocodiles and Alligators. 2nd Edition. Orbis-Verlag, Niedernhausen 2002, ISBN 3-572-01319-4 .