Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

A genus of extinct crocodile of the subfamily Mekosuchinae, living from about 24 million years to about 40,000 years ago. It had become a top predator by the Pleistocene. Some features of this genus, that were probably fully terrestrial, were long legs and ziphodont teeth - recurved, serrated and compressed lateromedially, similar to carnivorous dinosaurs.

The earlier species, Q. meboldi and Q. timara were smaller than the later species, being about 2 m (6-7 ft) long. A Pliocene and Pleistocene species from Queensland, Q. fortirostrum grew to about 5 m (16 ft) or more, second in size only to Megalania prisca. In Early Pliocene Queensland there were Q. babarra and Q. meboldi, from Late Oligocene Queensland. In the Northern Territory there was Q. timara.

Other genera in the Mekosuchinae family are Australosuchus, Baru, Kambara, Mekosuchus, Pallimnarchus and Trilophosuchus.

A petroglyph found at the Panarammitti North site in the Olary area of South Australia bears a strong resemblance to the skull of Q. fortirostrum. The petroglyph is now in the South Australian Museum. Great age can be inferred for this petroglyph by the thick layer of desert varnish covering it.

Megafauna in the Dreamtime

Links

• Quinkana - Wikipedia
• Australian Journal of Zoology

Sources & Further reading

1. Patricia Vickers-Rich &Thomas Hewitt Rich, 1993, Wildlife of Gondwana, Reed Australia.
2. Chris Johnson, 2006, Australia's Mammal Extinctions, a 50,000 year history, Cambridge University Press.