Post by Infinity Blade on Mar 20, 2015 6:05:59 GMT 5
Voay robustus
© @ WSnyder
Temporal range: Pleistocene-Holocene
Scientific classification:
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked): Unikonta
(unranked): Opisthokonta
(unranked): Holozoa
(unranked): Filozoa
Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Eumetazoa
(unranked): Bilateria
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Superclass: Tetrapoda
Clade: Reptiliomorpha
Clade: Amniota
Class: Reptilia or Clade: Sauropsida
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Suchia
Clade: Paracrocodylomorpha
Clade: Loricata
Clade: Bathyotica
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Crocodylidae
Subfamily: Crocodylinae
Genus: †Voay
Species: †V. robustus
Voay robustus is an extinct species of crocodile that lived in Madagascar from the Pleistocene to the Holocene. It went extinct ~2k years ago, the same time the first humans arrived in Madagascar.[1] Either V. robustus competed with the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) or the latter only moved to Madagascar once the former went extinct there.[2] V. robustus differed from all extant crocodilians in a certain way: it was in possession of prominent semicircular crests (alternatively "horns") on top of its skull.[3] Likewise, the rostrum was shorter and deeper proportionately than in C. niloticus (more brevirostrine), the limbs were comparatively robust (in fact because of this fact, some claims have been made that it was more terrestrial than extant crocodilians and actually rather well-adapted to terrestrial life), etc.[4] It's body size was supposedly estimated at ~5 meters in length and ~170 kilograms in weight.[5]
References:
[1] "Morphology, relationships, and biogeographical significance of an extinct horned crocodile (Crocodylia, Crocodylidae) from the Quaternary of Madagascar", Brochu (2007)
[2] "The late Pleistocene horned crocodile Voay robustus (Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872) from Madagascar in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin", Bickelmann & Klein (2009)
[3] "A New Miniature Horned Crocodile from the Quaternary of Aldabra Atoll, Western Indian Ocean", Brochu (2007)
[4] "New data on the anatomy and relationships of the Paleocene crocodylian Akanthosuchus langstoni", Hill & Lucas (2006)
[5] "Dinosaurs, dragons, and dwarfs: The evolution of maximal body size", Burness et al. (2001)
© @ WSnyder
Temporal range: Pleistocene-Holocene
Scientific classification:
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked): Unikonta
(unranked): Opisthokonta
(unranked): Holozoa
(unranked): Filozoa
Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Eumetazoa
(unranked): Bilateria
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Superclass: Tetrapoda
Clade: Reptiliomorpha
Clade: Amniota
Class: Reptilia or Clade: Sauropsida
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Suchia
Clade: Paracrocodylomorpha
Clade: Loricata
Clade: Bathyotica
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Crocodylidae
Subfamily: Crocodylinae
Genus: †Voay
Species: †V. robustus
Voay robustus is an extinct species of crocodile that lived in Madagascar from the Pleistocene to the Holocene. It went extinct ~2k years ago, the same time the first humans arrived in Madagascar.[1] Either V. robustus competed with the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) or the latter only moved to Madagascar once the former went extinct there.[2] V. robustus differed from all extant crocodilians in a certain way: it was in possession of prominent semicircular crests (alternatively "horns") on top of its skull.[3] Likewise, the rostrum was shorter and deeper proportionately than in C. niloticus (more brevirostrine), the limbs were comparatively robust (in fact because of this fact, some claims have been made that it was more terrestrial than extant crocodilians and actually rather well-adapted to terrestrial life), etc.[4] It's body size was supposedly estimated at ~5 meters in length and ~170 kilograms in weight.[5]
References:
[1] "Morphology, relationships, and biogeographical significance of an extinct horned crocodile (Crocodylia, Crocodylidae) from the Quaternary of Madagascar", Brochu (2007)
[2] "The late Pleistocene horned crocodile Voay robustus (Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872) from Madagascar in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin", Bickelmann & Klein (2009)
[3] "A New Miniature Horned Crocodile from the Quaternary of Aldabra Atoll, Western Indian Ocean", Brochu (2007)
[4] "New data on the anatomy and relationships of the Paleocene crocodylian Akanthosuchus langstoni", Hill & Lucas (2006)
[5] "Dinosaurs, dragons, and dwarfs: The evolution of maximal body size", Burness et al. (2001)
