Mekosuchinae
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The Mekosuchinae, or mekosuchine crocodiles, were a subfamily of crocodiles from Australia and the South Pacific that have now become extinct. They first appear in the fossil record in the early Miocene in Australia, and survived until the Pliocene in Australia and until the arrival of man in the Pacific islands of Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Note there is disagreement on whether or not Mekosuchinae is a subfamily within Crocodylidae, or a distinct family on its own.
Mekosuchine crocodiles were a diverse group. An early species, from Riversleigh Queensland, called Trilophosuchus rackhami, was a short snouted large eyed species that has been nicknamed the 'drop croc' as it is theorised it may have attacked prey by climbing trees and dropping on them. Another mekosuchine fossil has been found in Miocene deposits from New Zealand. One genera, Mekosuchus, managed to spread to the islands of the Pacific; it is believed to have island-hopped across the Coral Sea, moving first to a now submerged island known as Greater Chesterfield Island, then New Caledonia and onwards. Some scientists theorise fossils may eventually be found on the islands of Tonga and Samoa.
Mekosuchines became extinct in Australia after the arrival of crocodiles from the genus Crocodylus, today represented by the Saltwater Crocodile. The group survived on Vanuatu and New Caledonia until the arrival of people, who are presumed to have driven them to extinction.
[edit] References
New extinct Mekosuchine crocodile from Vanuatu, South Pacific. Mead, Jim I., David W. Steadman, Stuart H. Bedford, Christopher J. Bell and Matthew Spriggs. Copeia. 2002(3):632-641
