Quinkana

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iQuinkana
Fossil range: Late Oligocene - Pleistocene

Extinct (fossil)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Crocodilia
Family:	Crocodylidae
Subfamily:	Mekosuchinae
Genus:	Quinkana Molnar, 1981

Species

Q. fortirostrum Molnar, 1981 (type)
Q. babarra Willis & Mackness, 1996
Q. timara Megirian, 1994
Q. meboldi Willis, 1997

Quinkana
Type	terrestrial crocodylian
Diet	carnivore
Distribution	Australia

Quinkana is an extinct genus of mekosuchine crocodile that lived in Australia from ~24 million years ago to ~40,000 years ago (in the Pleistocene).

1 Species
2 Size and Form
3 Diet and Behaviour
4 Closely related species
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Species

The species within Quinkana include : the type species Q. fortirostrum from Queensland of the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Q. babarra from Queensland of the Early Pliocene. Q. timara from the Northern Territory of the Middle Miocene and Q. meboldi from Queensland of the Late Oligocene.

[edit] Size and Form

The early species (Q. meboldi and Q. timara) were small in size compared to the large Plio-Pleistocene species which evolved. Q. fortirostrum has been estimated to have exceeded 5 m in length, making it at the time one of Australia's largest predators.

[edit] Diet and Behaviour

Unlike modern Australian crocodiles, Quinkana was terrestrial and possessed large, recurved and serrated teeth (ziphodont dentition) adapted for slicing animal flesh.

[edit] Closely related species

Quinkana is a genus within the subfamily mekosuchine crocodile. Other genera included in this family are: Australosuchus, Baru, Kambara, Mekosuchus, Pallimnarchus and Trilophosuchus.

[edit] References

Willis, P.M.A. & Mackness, B. (1996). Quinkana babarra, a new species of ziphodont mekosuchine crocodile from the early Pliocene Bluff Downs Local Fauna, Northern Australia, with a revision of the genus. Proceedings and Journal of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 116: 143-151